Understanding Weather
What forms when water vapor in the air touches cool ground and turns into a liquid?
Dew
Freezes upon contact with a surface
Freezing rain
What kind of fog is formed at night from warm ground under a layer of cool air?
radiation
Which type of front produces the most severe weather?
cold
What is the process of going from a solid to a liquid?
Melting
What is the process of going directly from a gas to a solid?
deposition
ice crystals that have remained frozen
snow
What type of cloud is an artificial cloud produced by an airplane?
contrail
What type of air mass brings cool, wet weather?
maritime polar
What is the scientific term for a gas becoming a liquid?
condensation
What is the feathery deposit of ice crystals that forms when water vapor crystallized on the ground?
Frost
What is the process by which rain forms in very warm regions?
collision-coalescence process
What is a thick, brownish haze that develops as complex molecules are released in the air by vehicles, engines and factories?
smog
What kind of front does a mature frontal cyclone begins life as?
stationary front
What is the amount of water vapor in the air?
humidity
What does it mean when air is said to be saturated?
evaporation and condensation occur at the same rate
refreezes before reaching the ground
sleet
Which type of cloud is lens-shaped?
lenticular
What clouds form wispy streamers that look like feathers, hair, or "mares" tails?
cirrus
What process is defined by liquid water gaining energy and changing into water vapor?
evaporation
What three factors work together to cause the earth's variable weather?
Heat distribution, solar radiation, water vapor
The movement of water from the earth's surface, into the air, and back to the surface.
hydrologic cycle
layered balls of ice that form in strong thunderstorms and are layers of glaze and rime
hail
What mid level clouds block the sun and usually bring steady precipitation?
nimbostratus
Define relative humidity.
the ratio of the actual humidity to the humidity of saturated air under the same conditions.