Intro to Weather
What do we call the state of the atmosphere at a given place and time as characterized by temperature, wind, cloudiness, humidity, and precipitation?
Weather
What is a measure of the amount of water vapor in the air called?
Humidity
What type of clouds are called "fair weather clouds" and look like floating cotton?
Cumulus
Weather takes place in the same sphere we live in. Which layer of the atmosphere is that?
Troposphere
What is a small, short-lived, funnel-shaped storm that protrudes from the base of a cumulonimbus cloud called?
Tornado
What do we call the rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground from the atmosphere?
Precipitation
If water remains liquid at temperatures below 0°C, it is called what?
Supercooled
The volume of a rain droplet is about one million times as large as the volume of a ____ droplet.
Cloud
Air masses can change depending on the ____ they move over and the speed in which they move.
Surfaces
Lightning is an intense discharge of electricity that occurs when there is a buildup of static electricity in a storm. Regardless of what the theory for the creation of lightning, we know it is formed by a buildup of positive and negative what in the clouds?
Ions
What is the gaseous layer above Earth's surface, mostly nitrogen and oxygen?
Atmosphere
What is the cooling of the ground, objects on the ground, water, and so on that generally occurs at night as surfaces emit heat absorbed from sunlight during the day?
Radiation cooling
The two types of low-level clouds are stratus and ___
Nimbostratus
A boundary where two air masses meet is called a what?
Front
What determines if a storm over water is named a tropical cyclone, a hurricane, or a typhoon?
Its location/hemisphere
What do we call the characteristic weather of a region, averaged over several decades?
Climate
What cools at a faster rate: dry air or wet air?
Small, round or lumpy particles of ice are called ____
Sleet
What type of front occurs when two cold air masses and one warm air mass meet?
Occluded front
What forms in a low-pressure system, a tropical cyclone or a tornado?
Both!
What instrument is used to measure air pressure?
Barometer
Which process of rising air results from an interaction between moist air and a mountain?
Orographic lifting
What are cirrus, cirrostratus, and cirrocumulus clouds made of?
Ice crystals
The force exerted by the weight of the air above is called what?
Air pressure
What do we call an episodic weather pattern occurring every 3 to 7 years in which the trade winds slacken and warm water accumulates, causing unusual rains and heavy snowfall?
El Niño