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weather tools
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| cumulus | puffy with flat bottoms and round tops that signal fair weather |
| cirrus | wispy, feathery clouds made of ice crystals that form at high levels |
| status | clouds that form in flat layers and often cover much of the sky |
| nimbus | a rain cloud |
| fog | a stratus cloud that forms when air is cooled to its dew point near the ground |
| anemometer | an instrument used to measure wind speed |
| wind vane | an instrument used to measure wind direction |
| thermometer | an instrument used to measure temperature |
| sling psychrometer | tool made of a wet and dry thermometer that measures relative humidity and requires a table to interpret the 2 temperatures |
| barometer | an instrument that measures atmospheric pressure |
| rain gauge | an instrument used to measure precipitation |
| weather map | a map that uses symbols to show weather data |
| weather satellites | type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather |
| weather radar | is an instrument that sends pulses of electromagnetic energy into the atmosphere to find precipitation, determine its motion and intensity, and identify the precipitation type such as rain, snow or hail. |
| isobar | line on a map connecting points having the same barometric reading at a given time |
| isotherm | a line on a weather map that joins places that have the same temperature |
| cumulonimbus | are thunderstorm clouds. high winds can flatten the top of the cloud into an anvil-like shape. cumulonimbus clouds are associated with heavy rain,snow hail, lighting and even tornadoes. the anvil usually points in the direction the storm is moving. |
| relative humidity | the amount of water vapor in the air at any given time is usually less than that required to saturate the air. expressed as a percentage. |