weather

a large body of air throughout which temperature and misture content are similar.

air masses that form over oceans

air masses that form over land

the front edge of a moving mass of cold air that pushes beneath a warmer air mass like a wedge.

the front edge of advancing warm air mass that replaces colder air with warmer air.

serface location of a front.

a front of air masses that moves either very slowly or not at all.

a front that forms when a cold air mass overtakes a warm air mass and lifts the warm air mass off the ground and over another air mass.

the boundary where cold polar air meets tropical air mass of the middle latitudes, especially over the ocean.

beginnings of low-pressure storm centers

an area of low pressure that is characterized by rotating wind tht moves toward the rising air of the center low-pressure region.

a usually brief, heavy, storm that consists of rain, strong winds, lightning, and thunder.

firts stage of a thuderstorm. warm moist air rises and the wter vapor within the air condenses to form a cumulus cloud.

second stage of a thunderstorm. condensation continues as the cloud rises and becomes a dark cumulonimbus cloud. heavy, torrential rain and hailstones may fall from the cloud. strong updrafts continue to rise, downdrafts form as air is dragged downward by the falling precipitation.

final stage of a thunderstorm. the strong downdrafts stops air currents from rising. the thunderstorm dissipates as the supply of water vapor decreases.

clouds discharge electricity

the released electricity heats the air, and the air expands rapidly and produces a loud noise.

a severe storm that develops over tropical oceans and whose strong winds of more then 120 km/h spiral in toward the intensely low-pressure storm center.

a destructive, rotating column of air that has very high wind speeds and that maybe visible as a funnel-shaped cloud.

an instrument that measure and indicates temperature.

thermal resistor, is a type of electrical thermometer that responds very quickly to temperature changes.

an insterment that mesures atmospheric pressure

an instrument used to measure wind speed.

an instrument used to determine direction of the wind.

a package of instruments that is carried sloft by balloons to measure upper atmospheric conditions, including temperature, dew point, and wind velocity.

ra- radio, d- detection, a- and, r-ranging. a system that uses reflected radio waves to determine the velocity and location of objects.

the temperature to which the air must cool in order for more water to condense than to evaporate in a given amount of time.

lines that connect points of equal temperature.

lines that connect points of equal atmospheric pressure.

a mixture of gases tht surrounds a planet, such as earth.

a gas molecule that is made up pof three oxygen atoms.

tiny solid particals in the atmosphere.

the force per unit area that is exerted on a surface by the weight of the atmosphere.

the lowest layer of the atmosphere, in which temperature drops at a constant rate as latitude increases; the part of the atmosphere where weather conditions exist.

the layer of the atmosphere that lies between the troposphere and the mesosphere and in which temperature increases as altitude increases; contains the oxone layer.

the coldest layer of the atmosphere, netween the stratosphere and the thermosphere, in which temperature decreases as altitude increases.

the uppermost layer of the atmosphere, in which temperature increases as altitude increases; includes the ionosphere.

upper boundary of the mesosphere

lower region of the thermosphere

interactions between solar radiation and the ionosphere.

extends for thousands of kilometers above the ionosphere.

the layering of warm air on top of cool air.

all of the frequencies or wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.

the fration of solar radiation taht is reflected off the surface of an object.

the warming of the surface and lower atomsphere of earth that occurs when carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases in the air absorb and reradiate infrared radiation.

the trasfer of energy as heat through a material.

the movement of matter due to differences in density that are caused by temperature variations; can result in the transfer of energy as heat.

the curving of the path of a moving object from an otherwise straight path due to earth's rotation.

three looping patterns of wind flow in each hemisphere.

each convection cell correlates to an area of earth's serface.

winds that flow in one main direction

prevailing winds that blow from est to west from 30 degrees latitude to the equator in both hemispheres.

from northeast

from northeast

prevailing winds that blow from west to east between 30 degries and 60 digres latitude in both hemispheres. both blow to the west.

prevailing winds that blow from east to west between 60 degrese and 90 degres latitude iin both hemispheres.

where the northern and southern hemispheres trade winds meet at the equator.

subtropical high pressure zones

a narrow band of strong winds that blow in the upper troposphere.

gental winds that extend over distances of less that 100 km.

a cool wind moving from water to land

cold air moves from land to water

blows upslope to the mountains

bleeze going downward from the mountain to the valley