Grab Bag
Nature's way of recycling water.
What is the water cycle?
Gray clouds that cover the lower part of the sky; rain or snow falls from them
What are stratus clouds?
The state of the air at a certain time and place
What is weather?
The most common type of precipitation?
What is rain?
On a weather map, a line with triangles pointing down shows this
What is a cold front moving south?
Air with similar temperature and humidity
What is an air mass?
White, puffy clouds that look like piles of cotton; they are known as fair-weather clouds
What are cumulus clouds?
Scientists who study weather
Who are meteorologists?
They begin as thunderstorms in areas of low pressure over warm ocean water
What are hurricanes?
When a cold front comes through an area, this kind of weather will be sure to follow
What is heavy rains or thunderstorms?
The amount of water vapor in the air
What is humidity?
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?
Instruments that show wind direction
What is a wind vane?
When cold and warm air masses come together in the center of the United States, they form these dangerous storms
What are tornadoes?
The boundary that forms between air masses
What is a front?
This tool is used to measure air pressure
What is a barometer?
Clouds that form at the Earth's surface
What is fog?
This device measures wind speed
What is an anemometer?
This is what happens when there are long periods of little or no precipitation
What are droughts?
This type of front is formed when two cold air masses push a warm air mass up between them
What is an occluded front?
The evaporation of water from plant leaves
What is transpiration?
Cooling of the air and the presence of particles are both required for this to occur
What is cloud formation?
The weather of a place over a long time
What is climate?
Tornadoes and thunderstorms both form in this type of cloud
What are cumulonimbus clouds?
This type of pressure system is associated with dry and clear weather
What is a high pressure system?