Weather!?
water in the air evaporates at the same rate that it condenses
Saturated
The temperature at which cooling air becomes saturated
Dew point
Has a wispy appearance. "Thunderhead"; produces thunder
Cumulonimbus
Least common high-level cloud?
Cirrocumulus
What is the general term for fog that forms when the air near the ground ciils rapidly on a clear night?
Radiation fog
When an area is receiving less precipitation than normal, it is undergoing...
Meteorological drought
boundary between a warm cold air mass
front
Made of snowflakes that fall to the ground
snow
Water vapor is cooled to a temperature below the freezing point
supercooled
Cumulonimbus, Startocumulus, Cumulus, Stratus
Low-level Clouds
Look like a cumulus or stratocumulus but appear smaller and have a base at higher altitudes?
Altocumulus
thick, brownish haze that results from complete molecules released into the air by cars, busses, etc...
photochemical smog
Layers of glaze and rime
Hail
frontal cyclon usually begins
stationary front
State of the atmosphere at a certain time and place...
Weather
What is the ratio of the amount of water in the air to the amount of water in saturated air called?
Relative humidity
Low-level clouds with a flat base?
Cumulus
Often form above or around mountains..."lens-shaped"
Lenticular cloud
consist of a large liquid water fallinf from the clouds that stick together and grow large
rain
ice-crystals in geometric shapes
snow
polar air mass that moves into the area of a tropical air mass
cold front
Three (3) factors that cause the earth's variable weather are?
1. heat energy
2. uneven distribution of heat energy
3. water vapor
from gas to liquid...
Condensation
what process is usually responsible for cloud formation?
adiabatic cooling
forms as balls od ice that are blown by a thunderstom updraft
Hail
moist winds blow up a gentle slope; as the air climbs, it expands and adiabatically cools
upslope fog
liquid of solid water falling to the earth surface
precipitation
a cold front overtakes a warm front
occluded front
from liquid to gas
evaporation
Depends on the actual amount of water in the air
Dew point
Nimbostratus usually bring gray and ______ ___________?
steady precipitation
A lack of _______________ that afects an area's crop is called agricultural drought .
precipitation
develops when winds heated by warm ocean waters travel over cool ocean waters
sea fog
Liquid precipitation that freezes when it hits the ground or another substance...
freezing rain
from what does a frontal cyclone draws its energy?
warm air mass
100% relative humidity
Saturated
which of the following increases the rate of condensation?
cooler temperture
Puffy gray clouds form when a portion of rising, warm air condenses higher than the rest of the layer.
Stratocumulus
light; does not stick
dry snow
liquid precipitation smaller than a rain drop that drifts slowly
drizzle
Based on water shortage's affect on people
socioeconomic drought
forms over tropical/subtropical air waters; it's warm + humid; usually with thunderstorms
maritime tropical air masses
How does increasing the amount of water vapor in the air affect the air's density? why?
decreases density becasue water molecule are lighter than air molecules
plans releases water from their leaves
transpiration
earth surface over which an air mass formed
source region
most common high-level cloud made of ice crystals
cirrostratus
cold-cloud process
Bergeron-Findeisen process
raindrops freeze and form blls of ice (pellets) before they hit the ground
sleet
two unmoving air masses push against each other but neither one advances
stationary front
movement of water from the earth, to the air, back to earth
hydrologic cycle
throuigh what process does frost form?
deposition
May produce light rain or snow
Stratocumulus
larger than normal condensation nuclei that form giant droplets, that when falling they collide sticking together and growing bigger
collision-coalecence process
Cirrocumulus line up in parallel rows, creating a pattern resembling fish scales
" mackerel sky"
brief intense snowflakes
snow squall
colder + drier than maritime polar; bring cold,dry weather
continental polar air masses
an occluded front in which the overtaking cold air mass is colder than the stationary cold air mass
cold occlusion