Science- Test 3: Clouds through Storms

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What does cirrus mean?: Cirrus means curled.
What does stratus mean?: Stratus means spread out.
What does cumulus mean?: Cumulus means piled up.
What does nimbus mean?: Nimbus means rain.
What are the characteristics of a cloud containing the prefix -ciro?: It is a high altitude cloud and is therefore composed of ice crystals. They are thin clouds.
What are the characteristics of a cloud containing the prefix -alto?: It is a middle altitude cloud and is thicker, but not thick enough to produce rain.
What are the characterisitics of a cloud containing the prefix -strato?: It is a low altitude cloud and is therefore the thickes, it can produce rain.
What is a cumulonimbus cloud?: It is also called a thunderhead. It produces thunderstorms.
What are clouds composed of?: Clouds are composed of cloud (water) droplets.
Why don't all clouds produce rain?: In many clouds the droplets are not close enough together to combine and form larger droplets.
What occurs in the cumulonimbus clouds and the low elevation clouds?: In these clouds, if the droplets are dense enough they begin to form larger and larger droplets by coming together. They get heavier and begin to fall towards the bottom of the cloud causing them to bump into more droplets.
How many cloud droplets does it take to form one rain droplet?: About one million cloud droplets form a rain drop.
What are six types of precipitation?: Six types of precipitation are rain, sleet, snow, hail, freezing rain, and drizzle.
What instrument is used to measure rain?: The rain gauge is used to measure rain.
What is rain and the depth of snow measured in?: They are measured in inches, occasionally if there is a lot of snow, it will be measured in feet.
How does hail form?: It picks up water, freezes, falls, picks up more water, etc.
What is precipitation?: Precipitation is any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches earth's surface.
What must happen in order for precipitation to occur?: Cloud droplets or ice crystals must get heavy enough to fall from the air.
What are two ways cloud droplets grow?: They grow by colliding and combing or moving faster and collecting smaller droplets.
What is the most common type of precipitation?: Rain is the most common type of precipitation.
What must the diameter of a droplet of rain be in order for it to be a rain drop?: It must be at least 5 mm in diameter.
What are droplets of precipitation smaller than rain called?: They are called drizzle or mist.
What clouds do drizzle and mist fall from?: They fall from stratus clouds.
When does rain turn to sleet?: When it falls through air that is below freezing
What does makes freezing rain different from sleet?: Freezing rain turns to ice when it hits ground instead of in the air
Snow is water vapor converted into what?: Ice crystals
Where is water vapor converted into snow?: In a cloud
What is unique about a snowflakes patterns?: They have an endless number of shapes, but always have six sides/branches
Where does hail form?: Only inside of cumulonimbus clouds
When does hail form?: Only during thunderstorms
Can hail stones cause damage?: Yes
What is an air mass?: A large body of air that has a specific temperature and humidity
What is a front?: The boundary between two air masses
What are cold air masses called?: Polar
What are air masses called that form over land?: Continental
What is a characteristic of a continental air mass?: Dry
What are air masses called that form over water?: Maritime
What is a characteristic of a maritime air mass?: Wet/humid
What are warm air masses called?: Tropical
Where do air masses that form in the south form?: In the Pacific, over Mexico, and in the Gulf
Where do air masses that form in the north form?: In the Pacific, over Canada, and in the Atlantic
What does an "H" on the map stand for?: High pressure
What does an "L" on the map stand for?: Low pressure
Which air is more dense, cold air or warm air?: Cold air
What is a cold front?: A cold air mass that is moving and replacing a warm air mass
What happens when a cold air mass replaces a warm air mass?: The cold boundary pushes the warm air up and the warm air cools off and becomes more dense
What do cold fronts form?: Cumulonimbus clouds
What kind of weather is associated with cold fronts?: Stormy
How long does it usually take for a cold front to pass?: A couple of hours
What is the weather like after a cold front?: It is cooler and usually fair
What is a warm front?: It is a warm air mass that moves and replaces a cold air mass
How does the warm air mass replace the cold air mass?: A warm air mass is moving and when it combines with the cold air mass it forms a stair-step system with the clouds
What is the stair-step the clouds form?: There are nimbostrauts, then stratus, then altostratus and altocumulus, and even cirrus clouds
What kind of storms are associated with a warm front?: No violent storms
How long do the storms of a warm front usually last?: A couple of days
What is the weather like after the warm front passes?: It warmer and muggy/hazy
What is a stationary front?: It is when a cold air mass and warm air mass meet and stop moving
What is the weather like with a stationary front?: It forms clouds and produces rain
What is a cold front's map symbols?: A line with triangles?
Which side of the line is the cold front on?: The side with the base of the triangles
What direction to the triangles point?: The direction the front is moving
What is a warm front's map symbols?: A line with half circles
Which side of the line is the warm front on?: The side with the base of the half circles
What direction do the half circles point?: In the direction the front is moving
What is the map symbol for a stationary front?: Alternating triangles and half circles
Which side is the cold front on?: The side with the circles
Which side is the warm front on?: The side with the triangles
When do you feel the effects of a warm front?: After it has completely passed
When do you feel the effects of a cold front?: As soon as it starts to pass
Cumulus clouds indicate what kind of weather?: Fair
Stratus clouds indicated what kind of weather?: Stormy
What kind of pressure system is a cyclone?: A low pressure system
What direction do cyclone winds spin?: Counter clockwise
What kind of pressure systems are anticyclones?: High pressure systems
what direction do the winds in an anticyclone spin?: Clockwise
What kind of weather comes with a cyclone?: Stormy
What kind of weather comes with an anticyclone?: Fair
What are isotherms?: Lines on a map along whcih the temperature is the same
What are isobars?: Lines on a map which the pressure is the same
What are the units of pressure?: Millibars
How is wind direction indicated?: By a straight line into the station circle
How is wind named?: By the direction it is blowing from
What are the dangers of a thunderstorm?: Floods and lightning
What kind of fronts do thunderstorms come with?: Cold
What happens in a tornado?: Continental polar meets maritime tropical
What makes the tornado stronger?: The difference in temperature between the air masses
A cold front produces what for a tornado?: Cumulonimbus clouds which contain the elements for a tornado
What are the dangers of a hurricane?: Flood, storm surge, and wind
Where do hurricanes form?: In the mid-Atlantic and Caribbean

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