Weather
How do you determine
the weather?
Weather
Refers to the state of the
atmosphere at a specific time and
place.
What does it look like outside
right now? That is the weather.
Weather
This is a result of heat and Earth’s air and
water.
The amount of water vapor suspended in
the air is the humidity.
Relative humidity is how much water
vapor is in the air vs. how much it can
hold.
The dew point is the temperature where
the air is saturated and condensation
forms.
Clouds- Classified by shape
Stratus- flat, smooth, or
layered
Cumulus- cotton balls or
puffy
Cirrus- thin and wispy, or
feathered
Clouds- Classified by Height
Cirro- high clouds (usually ice crystals)
Alto- middle clouds
Strato- low level clouds
Clouds by Height
Cirro-
Alto-
Strato-
How do clouds form?
The sun heats the ground causing the
heated air to rise. Warm air holds more
water vapor. As the air rises, it cools
down. The cooler air can hold less water
vapor resulting in condensation and cloud
formations.
Jet Stream
Narrow belts of strong winds.
Jet streams are faster in the winter due to
the differences between warm air and cold
air are greater.
Sea Breeze vs Land Breeze
Air Masses
Large bodies of air that have the similar
properties to the part of Earth’s surface
which it developed.
Laymen’s Term***
Air mass that develop over land-Dry
Air mass that develop over water-Wet
Air mass that develop over Tropics-Warm
Air mass that develop over polar area-Cold
Fronts
Boundary between two air masses of
different temperatures, density, or
moisture.
Cold fronts are more dense and slide
under warm fronts.
Cold
Front
Warm
Front