Extreme Storms
This rotating storm forms over warm ocean water and loses energy when it moves over land.
Hurricane
The boundary where two air masses meet, often leading to precipitation and weather changes.
Weather Front
This lowest atmospheric layer is where all weather events take place.
Troposphere
A sudden release of energy in Earth’s crust, causing ground shaking and possible structural damage.
The branch of science that studies the atmosphere and weather processes.
Meteorology
A violent, rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground, often associated with supercells.
Tornado
This front occurs when warm air gradually overtakes colder air, bringing layered clouds and steady rain or snow.
Warm Front
The layer that contains the ozone layer, protecting Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Stratosphere
The exact point within the Earth where an earthquake originates.
Focus/Hypocenter
An instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure, important for predicting weather changes.
Barometer
A long-lasting snowstorm with winds over 35 mph and visibility reduced to less than a quarter mile for at least 3 hours.
Blizzard
A front where a faster-moving cold air mass pushes underneath a warmer air mass, often causing abrupt storms.
Cold Front
The coldest atmospheric layer, where meteors burn up upon entry.
Mesosphere
This scale is used to classify tornadoes based on the estimated wind speed and damage caused, ranging from EF0 to EF5.
Enhanced Fujita Scale
This weather alert indicates that severe weather is occurring or imminent in your area.
Weather Warning
A powerful ocean wave caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, usually from an underwater earthquake or landslide.
Tsunami
A front that stalls over a region, resulting in days of cloudy skies and light precipitation.
Stationary front
The layer with the highest temperatures, home to the auroras and the International Space Station.
A major fault line in California known for producing large earthquakes.
San Andreas Fault
A powerful rotating thunderstorm characterized by a persistent updraft, often capable of producing tornadoes.
Supercell
A storm system that includes lightning, thunder, gusty winds, and potentially hail or tornadoes, often forming along cold fronts.
Severe Thunderstorm
This scientific scale is used to measure the magnitude and total energy released by an earthquake.
Moment Magnitude Scale/Richter Scale
This outermost layer gradually transitions into outer space and has extremely low air density.
Exosphere
A series of smaller seismic events following the main earthquake event.
Aftershocks
A rare phenomenon where thunder and lightning occur during a snowstorm.
Thundersnow