Weather Vocabulary
What is the pressure that a column of air exerts on the area below it called?
Air pressure
At the center of what type of pressure system does air rise and form clouds and precipitation?
Low-pressure system
Which weather instrument measures temperature?
Thermometer
What type of clouds are wispy and found at high altitudes?
Cirrus clouds
What type of front forms when cold air moves toward warmer air?
Cold front
What is the amount of water vapor in the air called?
Humidity
What is a large body of air with similar temperature and moisture called?
Air mass
Which instrument measures air pressure?
Barometer
What intense tropical storm has winds exceeding 119 km/h?
Hurricane
What does Doppler radar measure about precipitation?
The speed at which precipitation travels
What is the natural process in which water constantly moves among oceans, land, and the atmosphere?
Water cycle
What type of air mass is cold and dry?
Continental polar
Which instrument measures humidity?
Psychrometer
What type of precipitation reaches Earth as large pellets of ice?
Hail
What type of weather report contains measurements of temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind?
Surface report
What is the boundary between two air masses called?
Front
What type of air mass is warm and humid?
Maritime tropical
Which instrument measures wind speed?
Anemometer
What type of pressure system usually brings fair weather?
High-pressure system
Meteorologists use weather measurements along with what technology to help predict future weather?
Computer models
What is the humidity in the air compared to the amount of water vapor the air can hold called?
Relative humidity
What do we call a line connecting places with the same air pressure on a weather map?
Isobar
Which instrument measures precipitation?
Rain gauge
Name one type of severe weather that can form during a thunderstorm and has extremely strong rotating winds.
Tornado
Along a cold front, where would you expect to find the cooler temperatures: ahead of the front or behind it?
Behind the front