Weather and Water Vapor
What is condensation?
The change of state from a gas to a liquid
Which mid-level clouds often bring steady precipitation?
Nimbostratus
What is any liquid precipitation between .2 mm and .5 mm in diameter?
Drizzle
What is the area on the earth’s surface where the air mass starts?
Source region
What is the end result of water vapor going through deposition?
Frost
What unusual clouds tend to form on or above mountains?
Lenticular clouds
What is a brief but intense snowfall?
Snow squall
What is an occluded front?
A y-shaped front from a fast, cold air mass lifting up a warm air mass
What happens to the relative humidity when you lower the amount of water vapor? Raise the temperature?
Lowers
Which type of low-altitude cloud produces a lot of lightning and thunder?
What are tiny balls of ice that form in clouds and precipitate?
Hail
What is a front?
The boundary between two air masses of two different temperatures
Define saturated air.
the water in the air is evaporating at the same rate at which it is condensing
What do cirrocumulus clouds look like? Are they low, medium, or high altitude clouds?
Tiny puffs of cotton
High altitude
How does sleet form?
When water vapor freezes in clouds and precipitates
Where are maritime tropical air masses often found?
Over tropical water
What is the difference between climate and weather?
Weather - the state of the atmosphere at a certain time and place
Climate - the year-round weather typical of a certain place
What do cumulus clouds look like?
white, billowy clouds that resemble piles of cotton puffs with flat bases
Define the Bergeron-Findeisen process and the collision-coalescence process.
Bergeron-Findeisen process - the air around a water droplet or crystal determines whether it is snow, sleet, or rain
Collision–coalescence process: big droplets of rain get larger by colliding and merging with other droplets in a cloud
Define meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and socioeconomic droughts.
Meteorological drought - compares an area’s current precipitation with the area’s typical precipitation and by analyzing how long the dry period lasts
Agricultural drought - occurs when precipitation cannot supply enough moisture to the ground to support an area’s crops
Hydrological drought - occurs when a meteorological drought affects an area’s groundwater, streams, lakes, and reservoirs
Socioeconomic drought - based on the water shortages effect on people