Weather and Climate - High School

If you've got your head in the clouds, this list of words related to weather and climate will be like a ray of sunshine. Review forms of precipitation, types of clouds, climate change, the atmosphere, and more. You don't need to be a meteorologist to know that the forecast calls for vocabulary!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. air mass
    a large body of air with uniform characteristics horizontally
  2. albedo
    the ratio of reflected to incident light
  3. altitude
    elevation above sea level or above the earth's surface
  4. altocumulus
    a cumulus cloud at an intermediate altitude of 2 or 3 miles
  5. altostratus
    a stratus cloud at an intermediate altitude of 2 or 3 miles
  6. anemometer
    a gauge for recording the speed and direction of wind
  7. atmosphere
    the mass of air surrounding the Earth
  8. atmospheric pressure
    the pressure exerted by the atmosphere
  9. axis
    the center around which something rotates
  10. barometer
    an instrument that measures atmospheric pressure
  11. biome
    major ecological community with distinct climate and flora
  12. biosphere
    the regions of the Earth where living organisms exist
  13. blizzard
    a weather event with widespread snowfall and strong winds
  14. Celsius
    Swedish astronomer who devised the centigrade thermometer
  15. Celsius scale
    a temperature scale that defines the freezing point of water as 0 degrees and the boiling point of water as 100 degrees
  16. circulation
    free movement or passage
  17. cirrocumulus
    a cloud at a high altitude consisting of a series of regularly arranged small clouds resembling ripples
  18. cirrostratus
    a thin uniform layer of hazy cloud at high altitude
  19. cirrus
    a wispy white cloud at a high altitude
  20. climate
    the weather in some location averaged over a period of time
  21. climate change
    a shift in the world's average weather and temperature
  22. cloud
    a visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude
  23. cold front
    the front of an advancing mass of colder air
  24. condensation
    atmospheric moisture that has changed from a gas
  25. conduction
    the transmission of heat or electricity or sound
  26. continental
    of or relating to or characteristic of a continent
  27. convection
    movement of heat by massive motion within the atmosphere
  28. convergence
    the occurrence of two or more things coming together
  29. Coriolis effect
    (physics) an effect whereby a body moving in a rotating frame of reference experiences the Coriolis force acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation; on Earth the Coriolis effect deflects moving bodies to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere
  30. cumulonimbus
    a dark cloud of great vertical extent charged with electricity; associated with thunderstorms
  31. cumulus
    a globular cloud
  32. current
    a steady flow of a fluid or gas
  33. cycle
    a periodically repeated sequence of events
  34. cyclone
    an atmospheric system in which air circulates rapidly
  35. density
    the amount per unit size
  36. depression
    an air mass of lower pressure
  37. desertification
    a gradual transformation into arid, uninhabitable land
  38. dew point
    the temperature at which the water vapor in the air becomes saturated and condensation begins
  39. divergence
    moving away in different direction from a common point
  40. drought
    a shortage of rainfall
  41. elevation
    distance of something above a reference point
  42. El Nino
    a warm ocean current in the Pacific that sets off a chain of weather events
  43. equator
    an imaginary line around the Earth forming a great circle
  44. evaporation
    the process of becoming a suspension of particles in the air
  45. Fahrenheit
    of or relating to a temperature scale proposed by the inventor of the mercury thermometer
  46. Fahrenheit scale
    a temperature scale that defines the freezing point of water as 32 degrees and the boiling point of water a 212 degrees
  47. flash flood
    a sudden and great flow of water in a short period of time
  48. forecast
    a prediction about how something will develop
  49. front
    phenomenon at the boundary between two different air masses
  50. glacier
    a slowly moving mass of ice
  51. global warming
    a rise in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere
  52. greenhouse effect
    warming due to solar radiation trapped by the atmosphere
  53. greenhouse gas
    a substance in the air that warms a planet by trapping heat
  54. hailstone
    small pellet of ice that falls during a hailstorm
  55. heat
    a form of energy transferred by a difference in temperature
  56. heat wave
    a period of unusually hot weather
  57. humidity
    wetness in the atmosphere
  58. hurricane
    a severe tropical cyclone usually with heavy rains and winds
  59. hygrometer
    measuring instrument for measuring the relative humidity of the atmosphere
  60. ice age
    a period when glaciers cover much of the Earth's surface
  61. isobar
    (meteorology)an isogram connecting points having equal barometric pressure at a given time
  62. isotherm
    (meteorology) an isogram connecting points having the same temperature at a given time
  63. jet stream
    a high-speed air current blowing constantly high above the earth
  64. latitude
    an imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator
  65. lightning
    an electric discharge between clouds or from cloud to earth
  66. longitude
    the angular distance from the prime meridian at Greenwich
  67. maritime
    bordering on or living near the sea
  68. mesosphere
    the atmospheric layer between the stratosphere and the thermosphere
  69. meteorology
    the earth science dealing with phenomena of the atmosphere
  70. monsoon
    rainy season in southern Asia
  71. occluded front
    (meteorology) a composite front when colder air surrounds a mass of warm air and forces it aloft
  72. ozone layer
    a region of the stratosphere that blocks UV radiation from the sun
  73. polar
    located at or coming from the earth's extremities
  74. precipitation
    the falling to earth of any form of water
  75. pressure
    the force exerted by the atmosphere
  76. psychrometer
    a hygrometer consisting of a dry-bulb thermometer and a wet-bulb thermometer; their difference indicates the dryness of the surrounding air
  77. radiation
    energy transmitted in the form of rays or waves or particles
  78. rain gauge
    gauge consisting of an instrument to measure the quantity of precipitation
  79. rain shadow
    an area that has little precipitation because some barrier causes the winds to lose their moisture before reaching it
  80. relative humidity
    the ratio of the amount of water in the air at a given temperature to the maximum amount it could hold at that temperature; expressed as a percentage
  81. salinity
    the relative proportion of salt in a solution
  82. satellite
    man-made equipment that orbits around the earth or the moon
  83. sea breeze
    a cooling breeze from the sea (during the daytime)
  84. sea level
    level of the ocean's surface
  85. season
    one of the natural periods into which the year is divided by the equinoxes and solstices or atmospheric conditions
  86. seasonal
    occurring at or dependent on a particular season
  87. sleet
    precipitation consisting of a mixture of rain and snow
  88. smog
    air pollution by a mixture of smoke and fog
  89. solar
    relating to the sun or utilizing the energies of the sun
  90. solar radiation
    radiation from the sun
  91. stability
    the quality of being enduring and free from change
  92. stratosphere
    atmospheric layer between the troposphere and the mesosphere
  93. stratus
    a large dark low cloud
  94. subtropical
    of or relating to or characteristic of conditions in the subtropics
  95. temperate
    mild or free from extremes
  96. temperature
    the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment
  97. temperature gradient
    change in temperature as a function of distance
  98. thermometer
    measuring instrument for measuring temperature
  99. thermosphere
    the atmospheric layer between the mesosphere and the exosphere
  100. tilt
    property possessed by a line that departs from the vertical
  101. tornado
    a violently destructive windstorm occurring over land
  102. trade wind
    steady winds blowing from east to west above and below the equator
  103. transpiration
    the emission of water vapor from the leaves of plants
  104. tropical
    relating to part of the Earth's surface with hot climate
  105. tropical rain forest
    a rain forest in a tropical area
  106. troposphere
    the lowest atmospheric layer; from 4 to 11 miles high
  107. vegetation
    all the plant life in a particular region or period
  108. warm front
    the front of an advancing mass of warmer air
  109. water vapor
    water in a vaporous form diffused in the atmosphere but below boiling temperature
  110. weather
    atmospheric conditions such as temperature and precipitation
  111. weather map
    (meteorology) a map showing the principal meteorological elements at a given time and over an extended region
  112. westerly
    the winds from the west that occur in the temperate zones of the Earth
  113. wind
    air moving from high pressure to low pressure
  114. wind vane
    mechanical device attached to an elevated structure
Created on Sun Feb 19 21:44:46 EST 2017 (updated Mon Apr 17 15:42:32 EDT 2017)

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