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Precipitation | water, in solid or liquid form, that falls from the air to Earth |
Weather | condition of the atmosphere at a certain time and place |
Condesation | process by which a gas, such as water vapor, becomes a liquid |
Clouds | collection of millions of tiny water droplets or ice crystals |
Air masses | large body of air where temperature and moisture content are similar throughout |
Fronts | The area in which two types of air masses meet |
Thunderstorms | intense weather systems that produce strong winds, heavy rain, lightning, and thunder |
Tornado | small, spinning column of air that has high wind speeds and low central pressure and that touches the ground |
Hurricane | A large, rotating tropical weather system that has wind speeds of at least 120 km/h |
Isobars | lines on the weather maps |
Climate | the average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time |
Describe the kind of weather associated with each type of front | Warm front- clear warm weather
Cold front- thunderstorms and heavy rain
Stationary front- many days of cloudy wet weather
Occluded front- large amounts rain and snow |
Describe how a hurricane forms | A hurricane begins as a group of thunderstorms moving over tropical ocean waters. Winds traveling in two different directions meet and cause the storm to spin |
What are the main features on a typical weather map? | isobars, high and low air pressure,warm and cold fronts |
What types of of weather are associated with the main types of clouds? | Cumulus - puffy, white; fair weather
Cumulonimbus – dark; stormy
Stratus – layered, thick, gray; rainy
Cirrus – thin, white; windy |
What are the major factors that determine the climate of an area? | Temperature and precipitation |
Explain why water drops sometimes form on the outside of a cold glass of water. | The cold water caused the glass to cool the air surrounding the glass to its dew point. |