Weather Flashcards
(26 cards)
Humidity
Amount of water vapor in the air.
Cumulus Cloud
Puffy, white clouds that tend to have flat bottoms.
Stratus Cloud
Clouds that form in layers.
Cirrus Cloud
thin, feathery, white clouds.
Cumulonimbus Cloud
Thunderstorms come from this cloud.
Condensation
Change of state from a gas to a liquid.
Evaporation
The process where a substance, particularly water, transitions from a liquid state to a gaseous state
Precipitation
Any form of water that falls to the Earth’s surface from clouds.
Runoff
The flow of water, including rainwater, snowmelt, or other sources, over the land surface and into bodies of water, occurring when the ground cannot absorb all the water.
Rain
Cloud produces rain when the water drops in the cloud become large enough to fall.
Sleet
rain falls through a layer of freezing air.
Snow
Single ice crystals can join to form snowflakes.
Hail
Balls or lumps of ice that fall from clouds.
Polar- Maritime Air mass
A cool, moist air mass that forms over cold ocean waters in high latitudes, such as the North Atlantic and North Pacific.
Tropical- Maritime Air mass
A warm, moist air mass that forms over tropical or subtropical ocean waters, often associated with warm, humid weather and thunderstorms.
Polar- Continental Air mass
A cold, dry air mass that forms over large, high-latitude land areas like northern Canada or Siberia, bringing cold and dry weather conditions.
Tropical- Continental Air mass
A warm, dry air mass that forms over large, arid land areas in subtropical latitudes, like the Sahara Desert, and is associated with hot, dry, and clear weather.
Cold Front
Front forms where cold air moves under warm air.
Warm Front
Warm air moves over cold, denser air.
Thunderstorm
A usually brief, heavy storm that consists of rain, strong winds, lighting, and thunder
Lightning
Electric discharge that takes place between two oppositely charged surfaces, such as between a cloud and the ground.
Thunder
Sound caused by the rapid expansion of air along an electrical strike.
Tornado
A destructive, rotating column of air that has a very high wind speeds.
Hurricane
Severe storm that develops over tropical- oceans and whose strong winds of more than 125 km/h spiral in toward the intensely low-pressure storm center.
