Vocab 1
Condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place
Weather
Envelope of gases that surrounds the planet
Atmosphere
Sudden spark or energy discharge caused when electrical charges jump between parts of a cloud, between nearby clouds, or between a cloud and the ground
Lightning
Most abundant gas in the atmosphere
Nitrogen
Process by which molecules of liquid water escape into the air after becoming water vapor
Evaporation
Movement of air parallel to Earth's surface
Wind
Local wind that that flows from land to a body of water
Land Breeze
Overflowing of water in a normally dry area
Flood
These types of air masses form over oceans
Maritime
Instrument used to measure relative humidity by using two thermometers
Psychrometer
Coriolis Effect
High pressure centers of dry air
Anticyclones
When raindrops fall as liquid but freeze when they hit cold surface at ground level
Freezing Rain
Hot, dry air masses that form mostly in summer over the Southwest and Northern Mexico bringing dry weather to the Southern Great Plains
Continental Tropical
These winds flow from the horse latitudes to the equator
Trade Winds
Front where a warm air mass is caught between two cooler air masses
Occluded Front
Percentage of water vapor in the air compared to the maximum amount of water vapor that air can contain
Relative Humidity
The minimum wind speed for a thunderstorm to be classified as severe
68 mph
Decreases
How fast in km/hr must winds be for a storm to be classified as a hurricane
119 km/hr
Bands of high-speed winds about 10 km above Earth's surface
Jet Stream
Line on a weather map that joins places that have the same air pressure
Isobar
Scale used to measure tornadoes
Enhanced Fujita Scale
4 Layers of the Atmosphere from Top to Bottom
Thermosphere, Mesosphere, Stratosphere, Troposphere
These winds flow from west to east away from the horse latitudes
Prevailing Westerlies