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Weather words can be confusing. Here’s a quick guide to some of the most common terms you’ll hear on the news and see in forecasts.
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What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere behaves over relatively long periods of time. Climate is the average weather usually taken over 30 years. Climate can be affected by many things including the amount of sunlight, reflectivity, greenhouse gases, and movement of air and ocean currents.
What is a forecast?
The full definition of a forecast according to the National Weather Service is “a statement that describes or defines the probability of a particular type of weather condition occurring at some point in the future.” In other words, a forecast is an educated guess about what the weather will be like at some point in the future.
There are many different types of forecasts that meteorologists use to predict the weather, but the most common type is the short-range forecast, which is a forecast for the next few hours or days. Short-range forecasts are generally more accurate than long-range forecasts because they take into account all of the factors that go into making weather, like wind direction and air pressure.
What is a weather map?
A weather map is a graphical representation of various meteorological features across a particular area at a particular point in time. Weather maps are created by meteorologists and other atmospheric scientists.
There are many different types of weather maps, each designed to show specific types of information. The most common type of weather map is the surface weather map, which shows features such as temperature, pressure, precipitation, and cloud cover. Other types of weather maps include upper-air maps, radar maps, and satellite maps.
Surface weather maps are usually drawn on a Mercator projection, which is a type of map projection that preserves the shape of small areas but distorts the shape of larger areas. This distortion is due to the fact that the Earth is not a perfect sphere but is instead an oblate spheroid (i.e., it is flattened at the poles).
Weather maps typically use a standard set of symbols to represent various meteorological features. For example, blue triangles are used to represent areas of high pressure, while red circles represent areas of low pressure. Isolines (i.e., lines connecting points with equal values) are often used to show features such as temperature or precipitation.
What is a weather station?
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing meteorological elements including temperature,Atmospheric Pressure humidity, wind speed and direction, and precipitation.
What is a weather balloon?
A weather balloon is a balloon that carries instruments aloft to send back information about the atmosphere to researchers on the ground. The balloons are usually filled with helium or hydrogen.
What is a weather satellite?
A weather satellite is a type of satellite that is used to monitor the Earth’Weather and Climate Weather satellites can be either polar-orbiting, meaning that they orbit around both the North and South Poles, or geostationary, meaning that they stay in the same position over the Equator.
What is a Doppler radar?
A Doppler radar is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It transmits microwaves which bounce off of moving objects and return to the radar site. The amounts of returning microwaves that are reflected back towards the radar site can tell how fast the object is moving. This technology is used in law enforcement to detect speeding cars and is also used in weather forecasting to map areas of precipitation.
What is an anemometer?
An anemometer is a device used for measuring wind speed, and is a common weather instrument. The term is derived from the Greek word anemos, which means wind. An anemometer typically consists of four or five cups attached to arms that rotate at high speed in the presence of wind. The cups cause the arms to rotate at a speed that is proportional to the wind speed.
What is a barometer?
A barometer is a common weather instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure changes with the weather, so barometers can be used to predict short-term changes in the forecast. There are two main types of barometers: mercury and aneroid.
Mercury barometers are the most common type. They consist of a glass tube that is sealed at one end and has a mercury-filled reservoir at the other end. The level of the mercury rises and falls as the atmospheric pressure changes.
Aneroid barometers do not contain any mercury. Instead, they have a sealed chamber that expands and contracts as the atmospheric pressure changes. This expansion and contraction moves a needle, which is attached to the chamber, and this movement is then converted into a reading on a dial or display.
What is a hygrometer?
A hygrometer is an instrument that measures humidity. The most common type of hygrometer is the wet bulb/dry bulb thermometer, which consists of two thermometers (the wet-bulb and dry-bulb thermometers) attached to a single glass tube.
