| A | B |
|---|
| Advection fog | Warm air pulled across a cold surface cools and dew point is reached resulting in this type of fog. |
| Aspect | Compass direction in which a slope faces. |
| Barometer | Instrument which measures air pressure. |
| Chinook | A warm dry wind which brings warming effect to areas on the eastern side of the Rockies. |
| Anticyclone | Another name for a high pressure area |
| Anemometer | Instrument which measures wind speed |
| Albedo | The percentage of solar radiation reflected back to space. |
| Air mass | Large mass of air which has relatively uniform temperatures and moisture. |
| Cirrus cloud | High cloud made of ice crystals. Head of an approaching warm front. |
| Convectional rainfall | The heating of the atmosphere by the earth causes the air to warm and rise. Water vapor condenses and clouds and precipitation occur. |
| Coriolis effect | Force created by the spinning of the earth. |
| Cumulonimbus | Cloud which builds vertically. Produces heavy rain, hail and thunder. |
| Cyclone | Area of low atmospheric pressure |
| Doldrums | Area of no winds in the equator area |
| Dew | Droplets of condensed water |
| Dew point | As air cools it loses its ability to hold moisture in the form of water vapor. |
| Cold front | The leading edge of a cold air mass |
| Lapse rate | A drop in temperature occurs with elevation. |
| Greenhouse Effect | Warming of the earth’s atmosphere as outgoing radiation is absorbed by carbon dioxide and water vapor. |
| Gulf stream | Warm ocean current |
| Hurricane | A tropical disturbance with winds greater than 120 km/hr |
| Isobars | Lines joining areas of equal pressure |
| Insolation | Incoming solar radiation from the sun |
| Land breeze | Flow of air from the land to the ocean. |
| Leeward | Dry side of the mountain. |
| Microclimate | A small area with climate conditions that differ considerably from the surrounding area. |
| Monsoon | A large scale wind system that brings heavy rains in the summer season. |
| Nimbostratus cloud | A low lying heavy layered cloud associated with warm fronts. |
| Occluded front | Forms when a faster moving cold front overtakes a slower moving warm front |
| Orographic precipitation | Air is forced to climb over a mountain barrier. |
| Relief precipitation | Air is forced to climb over a mountain barrier. |
| Ozone layer | Protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. |
| Polar front | The leading edge of cold air from the north. |
| Precipitation | All forms of condensed water vapor. |
| Radiation fog | Ground cools rapidly, cools the air in contact with so that the dew point is reached. |
| Rain shadow | An area of diminishing precipitation on the leeward side of mountain barriers. |
| Stationary front | A front that stays in one place neither advancing nor retreating |
| Stratosphere | Layer of the atmosphere above the Troposphere |
| Temperature inversion | A phenomena where temperatures increase with altitude |
| Thermometer | Instrument to record temperature |
| Tornado | A very violent localized funnel-cloud storm generating speeds nearly 800 km/hr |
| Typhoon | A severe storm in the west Pacific. |
| Trade winds | Steady winds which blow from the subtropical highs to equatorial low pressure areas. |
| Sea breeze | Air rushes in to replace the rising air over the land. |
