| A | B |
| Clouds (def) | High fogs, mist or haze, form when air above the surface cools below the dew point |
| 3 Main Cloud Types | Cirrus, Stratus, Cumulus |
| Super Cooled Water (def) | Water that has cooled below 0 degrees Celcius with out freezing |
| Cirrus Clouds (def) | Clouds are thin, feathery, very high & always made of ice crystals. These are easy to see when planes fly by & leave a jet trail |
| Stratus Clouds (def) | Low sheets or layers of cloud formed from horizontal air movement |
| Cumulus Clouds (def) | Clouds formed by vertically rising air currents piled in thick, puffy masses |
| Meaning of the prefix Alto- | High |
| Meaning of the prefix Cirro- | Highest |
| Meaning of the prefix Nimbo- | Rain Cloud |
| Cloud type most often seen | Cumulus/Stratocumulus Clouds |
| Approximate difference in temperature between the air temperature & dew point temperature that will cause water to condense resulting in clouds & possibly precipitaion | A difference of 4 degrees or less |
| Precipitation (def) | Falling water in any form from the air to the Earth's surface |
| 4 Examples of Precipitation | Rain, Snow, Sleet, Hail |
| Rain (def) | Drops of water that reach the ground in liquid form |
| Snow (def) | Precipitation of solid water, mainly in the form of branched hexagonal crystals or stars. |
| # of inches of snow for every 1 inch of rain | 10 inches |
| The higher the air rises, the (more)(less) moisture it can drop | More |
| Windward (def) | Side of a mountain where rising air cools, water condenses and falls as rain |
| Leeward (def) | Side of a mountain where air is compressing and the sinking air is dryer. |
| 2 Chemical agents that cause of Acid Rain | Sulfates (from volcanoes & fuel burning) and nitrates (from car exhaust and industrial processes)) |
| Cloud seeding (def) | Process of artificially making rain by dropping pellets of dry ice or crystals of silver iodide on a cloud to be used as condensation nuclei for rain |
| 4 Dangers from Acid Rain | Changes pH of the soil, makes stone weater faster, kills plants & animals, & damages metals |
| Temperature Inversion (def) | Upside-down temperature condition occurring when surface air is colder than the air above. |
| What conditions favor the formation of temperature inversions? | Clear dry nights in the area of a valley or depression |
| Ex of 2 places that experience pollution build up due to temperature inversions | Los Angeles, CA & Denver CO |
| 2 things that aid in destroying temperature inversions | Wind & sunlight |
| What results from the uneven heating of the Earth's surface? | Winds |
| Isobars that are close together signify areas were winds are (blowing faster) (blowing slower). | Blowing faster |
| Winds blow from (high) (low) pressure ot (high) (low) pressure | From high pressure to low pressure |
| Anemometer (def) | Instrument that measures wind speed |
| Weather/Windvane (def) | Instrument that shows wind direction |
| How are winds named? | For the direction the wind comes from |
| What causes winds to curve to their right in the northern hemisphere? | Coriolis Effect |
| As altitude increase, what does temperature do? | Decreases |
| As altitude increases what does pressure do? | Decreases |
| As temperature increase, what does pressure do? | Decreases |
| Are temperture & pressure positively or negatively correlated? | Negatively (Inversely) |
| Sea Breeze (def) | Cool breeze off of the ocean due to air on land heating up and rising away |
| Land Breeze (def) | Warm breeze off of the land due to cool air sinking over the land at night |
| Which direction does a Nor' easter blow? | Southwest |
| Name the 4 types of fronts | Warm, Cold, Stationary, & Occluded |
| Air Mass (def) | A large body of air that has the same properties as the surface over which it develops |
| Name 4 types of air masses | Maritime Polar, Maritime Tropical, Continental Polar, Continental Tropical |
| Front (def) | Boundary between two air masses; storms & precipitation occur here |
| On a station model 126 represents a pressure of ______? | 1012.6 mb |
| What does a fully darkened station model circle represent? | A completely overcast sky |
| What does a flag (pennant) represent on a station model shaft? | 50 knots |
| What does one long feather on a station model shaft represent? | 10 knots |
| What does a short feather on a station model shaft represent? | 5 knots |
| Which direction does the shaft of a station model point? | Into the wind |
| Pressure gradient (def) | Rate of change in pressure |
| Layer of the atmosphere where the jet stream is found | Upper Troposphere |
| Thunderstorm (def) | Heavy rains, lightning, thunder & possibly hail. |
| Lightning (def) | A visible electric discharge produced by thunderstorms |
| 3 Steps in the Formation of Lightning | 1. Rising & falling air creates friction, 2. Friction strips electrons off of water in the air & cloud becomes charged, 3. Charges build up & then travel towards an oppositely charged area. |
| 3 Ways lightning may move | From Cloud to Cloud; From Cloud to Ground; or from Ground to Cloud |
| Thunder (def) | Loud sound resulting from the rapid heating of the air around a thunder bolt of lightning causing the air to expand & then quickly cool & contract creating a sound wave |
| Tornado (def) | A vilolent, counterclockwise whirling wind that moves in a narrow path over land |
| Direction Tornados usually move | From the southwest to the northeast |
| Where in the atmosphere do tornados usually form? | Usually form along a front |
| Shear winds (def) | winds at different heights blowing at different speeds in different directions |
| Tornado Alley Examples | Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, & Missouri |
| Hurricane (def) | The most powerful storm, a large counterclockwise swirling low pressure system that forms over tropical oceans |
| Meteorologist (def) | Person who studies the weater |
| Station Model (def) | Symbols used by (NWS) the National Weather Service to depict current weather in one particular area |
| Station Model symbol that means rain | Dots |
| Station Model symbol that means fog | 3 Horizonal lines like an = sign with an extra line |
| Station Model symbol that means snow | Asterick * |
| How many seconds pass between the time you see lightning and the time you hear thunder if you are approximately 1 mile away from the event? | 5 seconds |
| Weather Watch (def) | A cautionary statement issued by the NWS indicating that atmospheric conditions are favorable for the development of a particular weather or hydrologic phenomenon. |
| Weather Warning (def) | A cautionary statement issued by the NWS indicating that a specific hazardous weather or hydrologic event is imminent or actually occurring |
| pH of Acid Rain | 4.6 or lower |
| pH of "Normal" Rain | 5.6 |
| El Nino (def) | Naturally occurring weather/climate phenomenon typically lasting 12 to 18 months, featuring a warming of surface ocean waters in the central & eastern tropical Pacific; cold water upwelling is suppressed drastically reducing marine productivity; heavy rainfall occurs in the eastern Pacific and little occurs in the western Pacific |
| Salinity (def) | The measure of the dissolved solids in sea water |
| Amount of dissolved solids typically found in 1000 parts of sea water | 35 parts per 1000, 3.5 parts per 100 |
| Turbid (def) | Muddy |
| Turbidity Currents (def) | Underwater landslides |
| Cause of trans-Atlantic telegraph & telephone cables getting broken. | Turbidity Currents |
| Well known example of metal deposits that form in place on the sea floor | Manganse nodules |
| Metal that is obtained more easily from seawater than from land sources. | Mangnesium |