Weather Information
Vocabulary:
Desalination: The process of getting freshwater from salt water. (removing the salt)
Water Cycle: The continuous movement of water between Earth's surface and the
air, changing from liquid to gas to liquid.
Groundwater: Precipitation that seeps into the ground and is stored in tiny holes, or
pores, in soil and rocks.
Water Table: The top of the water-filled spaces in the ground.
Aquifer: An underground layer of rock or soil filled with water.
Spring: A place where groundwater seeps out of the ground.
Well: A hole dug below the water table that water seeps into.
Reservoir: A storage area for fresh water supplies.
Basin: The floor of an ocean, containing mountains, valleys, and plains.
Current: An ocean movement; a large stream of water that flows in the ocean.
Tide: The rising and falling of the sea; caused by the pull of the Moon and Sun's
gravity
Atmosphere and Air Temperature:
Insolation: incoming solar radiation, the amount of the Sun's energy that reaches
Earth at a given place and time (most direct on the equator all year long which
causes warmer temperatures there)
Atmosphere: the air that surrounds Earth
Troposphere: our layer of the atmosphere, the layer closest to Earth's surface, all
life exists here, weather exists here too
Air Pressure: the force put on a given area by the weight of the air above it (as you
go higher in altitude, air pressure decreases)
Air is made of: 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% of other gases
Weather: what the lower atmophere (or troposphere) is like at any given place or
time
Barometer: measures air pressure (an increase means high pressure, a decrease
means low pressure)
Anemometer: measures wind speed
Rain Gauge: measures the amount of precipitation that has fallen
Thermometer: measures the temperature of the atmosphere (Celcius or Farhenheit)
Weather Vane: shows the direction the wind in blowing
Hygrometer: measure the humidity in the air
Water Vapor and Humidity:
Water Vapor: water in the air (vapor = gas)
Humidity: the amount of water vapor in the air (what makes us feel sticky, need this
to form clouds)
Evaporation: the changing of a liquid into a gas, when puddles dry up, when the
ground is no longer wet, when our clothes dry, etc. (hint = vapor)
Condensation: the changing of a gas back into a liquid, the formation of clouds in
the sky, fog on a mirror, drops on your glass (remember it always when warmer
molecules meet colder molecules)
Transpiration: when leaves of a plant give water back to the atmosphere
Relative Humidity: a comparison between how much water vapor is in the ar and
how much the air can hold
Clouds and Precipitation:
Stratus Clouds: blanketlike, straight, cover the sky, create overcast weather
Cumulus Clouds: puffy, white, cotton ball looking clouds
Cirrus Clouds: thin, wispy, feather-like clouds, high in the atmosphere and made of
ice crystals
Fog: a cloud a ground level
Nimbo/Nimbus: a cloud with rain or snow
Cumulonimbus: very tall, vertical cloud that is dark gray or black that is full of rain or
snow, thunderstorm cloud with heavy rain or snow that lasts a short amount of time
Nimbostratus: a blanket-like gray/black cloud that hold rain or snow, light and drizzly
rain that could last days
Precipitation: any for of water particles that falls from the atmosphere (clouds) to the
ground
Rain: liquid state of matter, falls through temperatures higher than 32 degrees
Sleet: solid state of matter, rain that falls through freezing (less than 32 degrees)
temperatures
Snow: solid state of matter, starts as an ice crystal and needs ground that is cold to
stick
Hail: only formed in cumulonimbus clouds, rain that is pushed upward from updrafts
cause it to reach high altitudes where the rain freezes, it then becomes a solid that
falls back down through the cloud collecting more rain, it will continue to freeze
over and over again (layered like a jawbreaker) until gravity pulls it down to earth,
the different sizes show you how many updrafts carried it up
Cloud Cover: symbols used to show what the skies look like on a daily basis
Clear: no clouds in the sky
Overcast: clouds everywhere in the sky
Scattered Clouds: a few clouds here and there
Party Cloudy: half cloudy, half clear
Mostly Cloudy: most of the sky is covered with clouds
Air Pressure and Wind:
Air Pressure Changes: from volume, the height above Earth's surface, temperature,
amount of water vapor (all cause changes in air pressure)
Wind: air that moves horizontally
Convection Cell: part of the atmosphere where air moves in a circular pattern
because of unequal heating and cooling, warm air rises and cooler air sinks
Updraft: air that rises (always warmer air)
Downdraft: air that sinks (always cooler air)
Sea Breeze: wind that blows FROM the sea towards the land (the land warms up
faster than the sea), this is why we often feel a misty breeze when on the beach
during the day
Land Breeze: wind that blows FROM the land towards the sea (the land cools down
faster than the sea), this is why we need a light jacket when walking on the beach
at night
How are land and sea breezes produced? The land and sea breezes are created because of uneven heating and cooling on the land/sea. The winds change direction between the day and night because of the changing of temperatures over land water.
Coriolis Effect: the curving on the winds on Earth (curves to the right in the Northern
Hemisphere and curves to the left in the Southern Hemisphere)
Global Winds:
Polar Easterlies: move from the poles (cold air) and from the east (towards the
west)
Prevailing Westerlies: moves from the midlatitudes and from the west (towards the
east)....IT goes WEEEEE!
Trade Winds: located at the equator (warm temperatures) and blow from the east
towards the west (remember the sailors used these winds to help them trade!)
Isobars: lines on a map that connect all places with equal air pressures (makes
pressure patterns easy to see)
Vocabulary:
Desalination: The process of getting freshwater from salt water. (removing the salt)
Water Cycle: The continuous movement of water between Earth's surface and the
air, changing from liquid to gas to liquid.
Groundwater: Precipitation that seeps into the ground and is stored in tiny holes, or
pores, in soil and rocks.
Water Table: The top of the water-filled spaces in the ground.
Aquifer: An underground layer of rock or soil filled with water.
Spring: A place where groundwater seeps out of the ground.
Well: A hole dug below the water table that water seeps into.
Reservoir: A storage area for fresh water supplies.
Basin: The floor of an ocean, containing mountains, valleys, and plains.
Current: An ocean movement; a large stream of water that flows in the ocean.
Tide: The rising and falling of the sea; caused by the pull of the Moon and Sun's
gravity
Atmosphere and Air Temperature:
Insolation: incoming solar radiation, the amount of the Sun's energy that reaches
Earth at a given place and time (most direct on the equator all year long which
causes warmer temperatures there)
Atmosphere: the air that surrounds Earth
Troposphere: our layer of the atmosphere, the layer closest to Earth's surface, all
life exists here, weather exists here too
Air Pressure: the force put on a given area by the weight of the air above it (as you
go higher in altitude, air pressure decreases)
Air is made of: 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% of other gases
Weather: what the lower atmophere (or troposphere) is like at any given place or
time
Barometer: measures air pressure (an increase means high pressure, a decrease
means low pressure)
Anemometer: measures wind speed
Rain Gauge: measures the amount of precipitation that has fallen
Thermometer: measures the temperature of the atmosphere (Celcius or Farhenheit)
Weather Vane: shows the direction the wind in blowing
Hygrometer: measure the humidity in the air
Water Vapor and Humidity:
Water Vapor: water in the air (vapor = gas)
Humidity: the amount of water vapor in the air (what makes us feel sticky, need this
to form clouds)
Evaporation: the changing of a liquid into a gas, when puddles dry up, when the
ground is no longer wet, when our clothes dry, etc. (hint = vapor)
Condensation: the changing of a gas back into a liquid, the formation of clouds in
the sky, fog on a mirror, drops on your glass (remember it always when warmer
molecules meet colder molecules)
Transpiration: when leaves of a plant give water back to the atmosphere
Relative Humidity: a comparison between how much water vapor is in the ar and
how much the air can hold
Clouds and Precipitation:
Stratus Clouds: blanketlike, straight, cover the sky, create overcast weather
Cumulus Clouds: puffy, white, cotton ball looking clouds
Cirrus Clouds: thin, wispy, feather-like clouds, high in the atmosphere and made of
ice crystals
Fog: a cloud a ground level
Nimbo/Nimbus: a cloud with rain or snow
Cumulonimbus: very tall, vertical cloud that is dark gray or black that is full of rain or
snow, thunderstorm cloud with heavy rain or snow that lasts a short amount of time
Nimbostratus: a blanket-like gray/black cloud that hold rain or snow, light and drizzly
rain that could last days
Precipitation: any for of water particles that falls from the atmosphere (clouds) to the
ground
Rain: liquid state of matter, falls through temperatures higher than 32 degrees
Sleet: solid state of matter, rain that falls through freezing (less than 32 degrees)
temperatures
Snow: solid state of matter, starts as an ice crystal and needs ground that is cold to
stick
Hail: only formed in cumulonimbus clouds, rain that is pushed upward from updrafts
cause it to reach high altitudes where the rain freezes, it then becomes a solid that
falls back down through the cloud collecting more rain, it will continue to freeze
over and over again (layered like a jawbreaker) until gravity pulls it down to earth,
the different sizes show you how many updrafts carried it up
Cloud Cover: symbols used to show what the skies look like on a daily basis
Clear: no clouds in the sky
Overcast: clouds everywhere in the sky
Scattered Clouds: a few clouds here and there
Party Cloudy: half cloudy, half clear
Mostly Cloudy: most of the sky is covered with clouds
Air Pressure and Wind:
Air Pressure Changes: from volume, the height above Earth's surface, temperature,
amount of water vapor (all cause changes in air pressure)
Wind: air that moves horizontally
Convection Cell: part of the atmosphere where air moves in a circular pattern
because of unequal heating and cooling, warm air rises and cooler air sinks
Updraft: air that rises (always warmer air)
Downdraft: air that sinks (always cooler air)
Sea Breeze: wind that blows FROM the sea towards the land (the land warms up
faster than the sea), this is why we often feel a misty breeze when on the beach
during the day
Land Breeze: wind that blows FROM the land towards the sea (the land cools down
faster than the sea), this is why we need a light jacket when walking on the beach
at night
How are land and sea breezes produced? The land and sea breezes are created because of uneven heating and cooling on the land/sea. The winds change direction between the day and night because of the changing of temperatures over land water.
Coriolis Effect: the curving on the winds on Earth (curves to the right in the Northern
Hemisphere and curves to the left in the Southern Hemisphere)
Global Winds:
Polar Easterlies: move from the poles (cold air) and from the east (towards the
west)
Prevailing Westerlies: moves from the midlatitudes and from the west (towards the
east)....IT goes WEEEEE!
Trade Winds: located at the equator (warm temperatures) and blow from the east
towards the west (remember the sailors used these winds to help them trade!)
Isobars: lines on a map that connect all places with equal air pressures (makes
pressure patterns easy to see)