Gray clouds that cover the lower part of the sky; rain or snow falls from them
What are stratus clouds?
100
What is severe weather?
weather out of the ordinary, that can potentially cause death.
100
Hurricane comes from the spanish word meaning
big wind
100
A hurricane in the pacific ocean is called __________
and it means _________________.
What is a typhoon, meaning great wind
200
The process of water changing into an invisible gas called water vapor
What is evaporation?
200
White, puffy clouds that look like piles of cotton; they are known as fair-weather clouds
What are cumulus clouds?
200
Scientists who study weather
Who are meteorologists.
200
Explain the role of the atmosphere
-air
-weather
-protects from harmful radiation
-protects us from space debris
200
Where you should go during a tornado if you are in a school or public building
What is the lowest level of the building?
300
Up until 1940 how did we forecast severe weather?
ships at sea reported back their findings.
300
Thin, feathery clouds that appear high in the sky; they are a sign that rain or snow is on the way
What are cirrus clouds?
300
Name the three states that Make up "Hail Alley"
Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado
300
Large, powerful storm that occurs over large bodies of water
What is a hurricane?
300
Explain how hurricanes form
over very warm ocean water of 80 or higher
in regions of low pressure when air over the ocean surface expands and rises in the shape of a column.
creates a giant thundercloud
air rises-absorbs heat and the wind speed increases as the storm builds
400
What is our working definition of weather
the condition of earth's atmopshere at a given time in a given place
400
Cloud that forms at the earth’s surface
What is fog?
400
What is the atmosphere?
layer of gasses surrounding the earth
400
The percentages of gasses in the atmosphere?
78% nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% other
400
Explain why hurricanes appear "white"
the storm clouds reflects light back into space making it appear white.
500
what happened in 1943 to change how we forecast severe weather?
A plane flew through the eye of the storm for the first time to gather data.
500
Tall, dark clouds that mean thunderstorms with heavy rain and strong winds
What are cumulonimbus clouds?
500
What human activity can harm the atmosphere?
Burning coal, oil, gas, (fossil fuels)
too much CO2 in the atmosphere
500
What conditions are needed for hail to occur?
hail can occur when strong updrafts of wind combine with small summer storms.
500
Describe three characteristics of the eye of the hurricane.
column of air 3-40 miles wide
so calm you can see the clear sky
end of storm is not when the eye passes over land