Christy Dion Weather & Climate Vocabulary 2017Atmosphere and Weather Vocabulary

Vocabulary Concept

Definition Visual Representation/Explanation

Humidity The amount of water vapor in a given volume of air.

Relative Humidity

The percentage of water vapor in the air

compared to the maximum amount of water vapor that air

can contain at a particular

temperature.

Psychrometer An instrument used to measure relative humidity, consisting

of a wet bulb thermometer and a

dry bulb thermometer.

Condensation The process by which molecules of water

vapor in the air become liquid water.

Dew Point The temperature at which condensation

begins.

Christy Dion Weather & Climate Vocabulary 2017Cirrus Clouds Wispy, feathery

clouds made mostly of ice crystals that form at high levels.

Cumulus Clouds

Fluffy, white clouds, usually flat bottoms,

that look like rounded piles of cotton.

Stratus Clouds Clouds that form in flat layers and often cover much of the

sky.

Precipitation Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth’s

surface.

Air Mass A huge body of air that has similar temperature,

humidity, and air pressure throughout.

Tropical Air Mass

A warm air mass that forms in the tropics

and has low air pressure.

Polar Air Mass A cold air mass that forms north of 50o

north latitude or south of 50o south

latitude and has high air pressure.

Christy Dion Weather & Climate Vocabulary 2017Maritime Air

MassA humid air mass that

forms over oceans.

Continental Air Mass

A dry air mass that forms over land.

Front The boundary where unlike air masses

meet but do not mix.

Occluded Front

Cut off, as in a front where warm air mass

is caught between two cooler air

masses.

Cyclone A swirling center of low air pressure.

Anticyclone A high pressure center of dry air.

Christy Dion Weather & Climate Vocabulary 2017Storm A violent disturbance

in the atmosphere.

Thunderstorm A small storm often accompanied by

heavy precipitation and frequent thunder

and lightning.

Lightning A 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.

Tornado A rapidly whirling, funnel-shaped cloud, that reaches down

from a storm cloud to touch Earth’s surface.

Hurricane A tropical storm that has winds of 118

kilometers per hour or higher.

Storm Surge A “dome” of water that sweeps across the coast where a hurricane lands.

Christy Dion Weather & Climate Vocabulary 2017Meteorologist A scientist who

studies the causes of weather and tries to

predict it.

Isobar A line on a weather map that joins places that have the same

air pressure.

Isotherm A line on weather map that joins places that have the same

temperature.

Climate The average, year-after-year conditions

of temperature, precipitation, winds

and clouds in an area.

Microclimate Climate conditions within a small area

that differ from those in the surrounding

area.

Tropical Zone The area near the equator, between

23.5o north latitude and 23.5o south

latitude.

Polar Zone The areas near both poles, from about 66.5o to 90osouth

latitudes.

Christy Dion Weather & Climate Vocabulary 2017Temperate

ZoneThe areas between

the tropical and polar zones, from about

23.5o to 66.5o north and 23.5o to 66.5o

south latitude.

Marine Climate

The climate of some coastal regions, with

relatively warm winters and cool

summers.

Continental Climate

The climate of the centers of continents, with cold winters and

warm or hot summers.

Windward The side of a mountain range that faces the oncoming

wind.

Leeward The side of the mountain range that faces away from the

oncoming wind.

Monsoon Sea or land breeze over a large region

that changes directions with

seasons.

Christy Dion Weather & Climate Vocabulary 2017Humid

SubtropicalA wet warm climate

found on the edges of the tropics.

Subarctic A climate zone that lies north of the

humid continental climates, with short, cool summers and long, cold winters.

Ice Age Time in the past when continental glaciers

covered large parts of the Earth’s surface.

Sunspot A dark area of gas on the sun’s surface that

is cooler than surrounding gases.

El Nino A climate event that occurs every two to seven years in the

Pacific Ocean, during which winds shift and

push warm water toward the coast of

South America.

La Nina A climate event in the eastern Pacific Ocean

in which surface waters are colder

than normal.

Christy Dion Weather & Climate Vocabulary 2017Global

WarmingA gradual increase in the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere.

Greenhouse Gas

Gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, that trap solar energy.

Ozone A large area of reduced ozone

concentration in the stratosphere, found

over Antarctica.