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.