Clouds
Humidity is the amount of this in the air?
What is water vapor.
What are three ways the water cycle influences weather?
evaporation, condensation, precipitation
When air sinks and moves outwards, causing clear weather, it is what kind of system?
A high pressure system.
What is lightning?
A discharge of electrical energy.
What is an air mass?
a large volume of air in which the temperature and moisture content are similar throughout
What are two elements of weather affected by jet streams?
temperature and precipitation
When warm humid air mixes with cooler air above, the result is...
A thunderstorm
What 2 things are necessary for clouds to form?
The temperature must reach dewpoint and tiny solid particles must be present in the atmosphere.
What is air pressure and how is it measured?
the force of air molecules pushing on an area, barometer
warm air mass meets and rises above cold air masses during this kind of front
What is a warm front
Global wind patterns have the greatest affect on...?
Wind direction
What does energy transferred from warm ocean water to the air do to cause a hurricane? (3 things)
warm air rises fast, tall clouds form, winds blowing from different directions bend into a spiral
Which cloud type has the greatest vertical development?
cumulonimbus
What causes wind?
Uneven heating of the earth's surface.
What weather accompanies a cold front?
storms bringing heavy rain or snow for a short period followed by cooler weather
How do ocean currents influence coastal temperatures?
Cool ocean currents lower coastal air temperatures and warm ocean currents raise coastal air temperatures.
What is a tornado?
a destructive rotating column of air that has very high wind speeds
What two events cause both frontal and orthographic lifting?
What is the dewpoint?
The temperature at which more condensation occurs than evaporation.
How does a stationary front form?
A warm air mass and a cold air mass meet and are unable to move, resulting in several days of rain.
Explain why England and countries on the west coast of the European continent have warmer weather than regions of the U.S. and Canada at the same latitude?
Warm ocean currents moving northward along the east coast of the U.S. and toward western Europe.
Why do hurricanes form in tropical latitudes?
water in tropical latitudes is warm enough to fuel a hurricane