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A forecast issued by the National Weather Service to highlight conditions that require caution, but are not thought to be immediately life threatening.
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The mixture of gases, which form the atmosphere of the Earth. |
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The weight of air pressing down on earth. Air pressure can change from place to place, and this causes air to move, flowing from areas of high pressure toward areas of low pressure. It’s the same as barometric pressure |
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A calendar that uses astronomical information and weather data. Almanacs list tide data, give the positions of the stars and forecast weather each day. |
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A weather instrument that measures the wind speed |
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A layer of gases surrounding a planet. The Earth’s atmosphere is divided into five layers: exosphere, thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere. |
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The season of the year that occurs after summer and before winter. Autumn officially begins in late September
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| An instrument that measures air pressure. |
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| An intense winter storm with winds of 35 m.p.h. or higher with falling and/or blowing snow to reduce visibility below 1/4 mile for at least three hours. |
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| A prefix to cloud-type names for clouds that are at high altitudes and composed of ice crystals. |
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| Thin, wispy clouds that form high in the atmosphere as their water vapor freezes into ice crystals. Cirrus clouds are a principle cloud type. |
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| It describes the average weather conditions in a certain place or during a certain season |
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| A visible collection of tiny water droplets or, at colder temperatures, ice crystals floating in the air above the surface. |
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| A boundary between two air masses, one cold and the other warm, moving so that the colder air replaces the warmer air. |
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| The change of water vapor to liquid water, as when fog or dew forms. |
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| A dense and vertically developed cloud that produces thunderstorms. The cloud can bring heavy showers, hail, lightning, high winds and sometimes tornadoes. |
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| Fluffy, mid-level clouds that develop in towering shapes and signal fair weather. Cumulus clouds are a principle cloud type. |
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| A low pressure system. It is a term variously applied to tornadoes, waterspouts, dust storms, hurricanes and even to any strong wind. |
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| Water that forms on objects close to the ground when its temperature falls below the dew point of the surface air. |
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| The temperature at which water starts to condense out of a particular air mass. The dew point temperature changes only when the moisture content of the air changes. The higher the dew point, the greater the moisture content is in the air. |
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| A period when a region has a lack of rainfall. |
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| The unusual warming of the surface waters of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It causes changes in wind patterns that have major effects on weather all across the globe. |
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| The process of changing a liquid (like water) to a vapor. It’s the opposite of condensation. |
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| It’s issued within 12 hours of the onset of the heat conditions listed in the excessive heat watch. |
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| It’s issued when the following conditions occur within 12-36 hours: a heat index of at least 105 degrees for more than 3 hours per day for 2 consecutive days or a heat index more than 115 degrees for any period of time |
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| Sudden flooding that occurs when floodwaters rise swiftly with no warning within several hours of an intense rain. They often occur after intense rainfall from slow moving thunderstorms. |
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| It’s issued to alert the public, emergency management, and other cooperating agencies that flash flooding is in progress or is likely to happen. |
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| It’s issued to alert the public, emergency management, and other cooperating agencies that flash flooding is in progress or is likely to happen. |
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| A cloud on the ground that reduces visibility. |
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| It occurs when the temperature falls below 32 degrees over a large area for an extended period of time. |
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| It’s issued during the growing season when the temperature falls below 32 degrees over a large area for an extended period of time. A freeze can destroy crops. |
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| A boundary between two different air masses, resulting in stormy weather. A front usually is a line of separation between warm and cold air masses. |
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| A tornado that doesn’t reach the ground. It has a rotating cone-shaped column of air extending downward from the base of a cumulonimbus or thunderstorm cloud, but whose circulation does not make contact with the ground. |
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| A large piece of ice that survives for many years, slowly carving out the face of earth. |
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| A mixture of liquid and frozen precipitation. |
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| It’s issued within 12 hours of the onset of the following conditions: a heat index of at least 105 degrees but less than 115 degrees for less than 3 hours per day or if nighttime lows remain above 80 degrees for 2 consecutive days. |
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| It’s the ‘feel like’ temperature on a hot day. The heat index is a number that expresses the warming effect of humidity at different temperatures |
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| The amount of water vapor in the air. |
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| An enormous and very hot spark of electricity produced by thunderstorms. The lightning bolt itself can heat the air through which it travels to 54,000° F. |
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| A whirling mass of warm, moist air that generally brings stormy weather with strong winds. When viewed from above, winds spiral into a low-pressure center in a counterclockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere. |
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| It’s a shooting star. The brief streak of light as an object from space plunges into the Earth's atmosphere. |
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| A scientist who studies and predicts the weather. Meteorologists use sophisticated equipment, like Doppler radar and supercomputers, but they also rely on old-fashioned sky watching. |
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