39 terms

Terms	Definitions
Condensation Nuclei	Microscopic particles on which water vapor condenses to form cloud droplets.
Cirrus	a wispy white cloud (usually of fine ice crystals) at a high altitude.
Rain	What you can predict when you see a cirrus cloud
Mare's Tails	Long, thin cirrus clouds with curved ends
Sundog	A rainbow colored spot of light that forms when sunlight refracts off of six sided ice crystals in cirrus clouds
Sun pillar	A narrow column of light at sunset.
Cumulus	The traditional fair weather cloud.
Rising	Air in a cumulus cloud is...
A rounded bottom	The most common mistake in drawing a cumulus cloud
dry adiabatic lapse rate	1 degree per 100 meters
wet adiabatic lapse rate	5 degrees per 1000 meters
air pressure	the weight of the atmosphere above an object
Crepuscular rays	Light shining down from a cloud (think light from heaven)
virga	Rain that evaporates before hitting the ground
Stratus	Clouds that layer over most or all of the sky
uniform thickness	What does a uniform color in a stratus cloud indicate?
Stratocumulus	When cumulus clouds layer the sky
alto	Prefix that means "higher than usual"
nimbus	prefix that means "actively precipitating"
Humidity	The general term for the amount of water vapor in the air.
Condensation	The process whereby water vapor changes its form to a liquid state.
Latent heat	the energy stored or released during a phase change.
Sublimation	The conversion of a solid directly to a gas.
Melting	The process by which a solid changes phases into a liquid.
Dew Point	The temperature to which the air would have to be cooled to reach saturation.
absolute instability	when the environmental lapse rate is greater than the dry adiabatic rate
absolute stability	when the environmental lapse rate is less than the wet adiabatic rate
calorie	unit of heat defined as the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade at atmospheric pressure
cloud	form of condensation best described as a dense concentration of suspended water droplets, or tiny ice crystals
condensation	the process of changing from a gaseous to a liquid state
convergence	the occurrence of two or more things coming together
dew point temp	when air is cooled to reach saturation
evaporation	the process by which water changes from liquid form to a gas
supercool	when water is below 0 degrees celsius and still in liquid state
frontal fog	when a cold front pulls in and warm raindrops condense to liquid state into the cool air
steam fog	when cold air is over warm water
radiation fog	on clear nights Earth's surface cools rapidly and the moisture in the air contact fog below its dew point
advection fog	warm air on cool surface
upslope fog	when air is moving on a gradually sloping mountain, making the air expand and cool adiabatically

Flickr Creative Commons Images

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• "Cirrus" image
• "Sun pillar" image
• "Cumulus" image
• "Crepuscular rays" image
• "virga" image
• "Stratus" image
• "Stratocumulus" image

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