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Tornados
Hurricanes
Earthquakes
Winter Storms
Rain and Floods
100
A localized, violently destructive windstorm that occurs over land, especially in the Middle West, and is characterized by a long, funnel-shaped cloud extending toward the ground and made visible by condensation and debris.
What is a tornado?
100
A violent, tropical, cyclonic storm of the western North Atlantic that has wind speeds of or in excess of 72 miles per hour (32 m/sec).
What is a hurricane?
100
A series of vibrations induced in the earth's crust by the abrupt rupture and rebound of rocks in which elastic strain has been slowly accumulating.
What is an earthquake?
100
A precipitation in the form of ice crystals, mainly of intricately branched, hexagonal form and often agglomerated into snowflakes, formed directly from the freezing of the water vapor in the air.
What is snow?
100
Water that is condensed from the aqueous vapor in the atmosphere and falls to earth in drops more than 1 / 50 in. (0.5 mm) in diameter.
What is rain?
200
An abrupt lowering of a rain-free cumulonimbus base into a low-hanging accessory cloud that is usually situated in the southwest portion of the storm. This usually develops before tornadoes.
What is a wall cloud?
200
As a hurricane’s winds spiral around and around the storm, they push water into a mound at the storm’s center. This mound of water becomes dangerous when the storm reaches land because it causes flooding along the coast. The water piles up, unable to escape anywhere but on land as the storm carries it landward.
What is a storm surge?
200
An area of stress in the earth where broken rocks slide past each other, causing a crack in the Earth's surface.
What is a fault?
200
A six-sided object made of as many as 200 ice crystals that forms in clouds where the temperature is below freezing. The ice crystals form around tiny bits of dirt that has been carried up into the atmosphere by the wind.
What is a snowflake?
200
This results from days of heavy rain and/or melting snows, when rivers rise and go over their banks.
What is a flood?
300
A rotating cone-shaped column of air that extends downward from the base of a thunderstorm, but does not touch the ground. When it reaches the ground it is called a tornado.
What is a funnel cloud?
300
This is the wearing away of land, the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage.
What is coastal erosion?
300
An interesting story of continents drifting from place to place breaking apart, colliding, and grinding against each other that is supported by a wide range of evidence that considers the earth's crust and upper mantle to be composed of several large, thin, relatively rigid plates that move relative to one another.
What is the theory of plate tectonics?
300
Rain drops that freeze into ice pellets before reaching the ground.
What is sleet?
300
Sudden flooding that occurs when floodwaters rise rapidly with no warning within several hours of an intense rain. They often occur after intense rainfall from slow moving thunderstorms. In narrow canyons and valleys, floodwaters flow faster than on flatter ground and can be quite destructive.
What is a flash flood?
400
A long-lived thunderstorm whose updrafts and downdrafts are in near balance. These storms have the greatest tendency to produce tornadoes that stay on the ground for long periods of time. They can produce violent tornadoes with winds exceeding 200 mph.
What is a supercell thunderstorm?
400
Tropical storms that occur in the western Pacific Ocean.
What is a typhoon?
400
An instrument that is used for recording the intensity and duration of an earthquake.
What is a seismograph?
400
Rain that falls onto a surface with a temperature below freezing and freezes to surfaces, such as trees, cars, and roads, forming a coating or glaze of ice. Even small accumulations of ice can cause a significant hazard.
What is freezing rain?
400
An electronic instrument, which determines the direction and distance of objects that reflect radio energy back to the radar site. It stands for Radio Detection and Ranging. This is what meteorologists use to see rain or snow.
What is radar?
500
A rotating vortex of air within a supercell thunderstorm. They do not always produce tornadoes.
What is a mesocyclone?
500
A tropical storm that occurs in the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, and Australia.
What is a cyclone?
500
A large ocean wave that is usually caused by an underwater earthquake or a volcanic explosion.
What is a tsunami?
500
A type of winter storm that is caused by freezing rain. The U.S. National Weather Service defines this type of storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least 0.25-inch of ice on exposed surfaces.
What is an ice storm?
500
This gives forecasters the capability of providing early detection of severe thunderstorms that may bring strong damaging winds, large hail, heavy rain, and possibly tornadoes. Combined with satellites, radar gives forecasters the ultimate tools to provide accurate forecasts and advanced severe weather warnings.
What is Doppler Radar?