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Lesson 1 - Describing Weather

This document describes key weather variables including air temperature, air pressure, wind, humidity, dew point, clouds, precipitation, and the water cycle. Meteorologists study and predict weather. Key instruments for measuring weather include barometers for air pressure and anemometers for wind speed. Weather is described as the short-term atmospheric conditions of a place.

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Gardimar Montañez
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435 views12 pages

Lesson 1 - Describing Weather

This document describes key weather variables including air temperature, air pressure, wind, humidity, dew point, clouds, precipitation, and the water cycle. Meteorologists study and predict weather. Key instruments for measuring weather include barometers for air pressure and anemometers for wind speed. Weather is described as the short-term atmospheric conditions of a place.

Uploaded by

Gardimar Montañez
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 17:

Weather
Lesson 1:
Describing Weather
What is weather?
● The atmospheric conditions, along with short-term
changes, make up the weather of a certain place at a certain
time.
Weather Variables
● Scientists who study and predict weather are
meteorologists.
● Air temperature is the measure of the average kinetic
energy of molecules in the air. Molecules in warm air move
faster than molecules in cooler air.
Weather Variables
● Air pressure is the pressure that a column of air exerts on
the air or surface below it.
○ Air pressure decreases as altitude increases.
○ A(n) barometer is an instrument used to measure air
pressure.
Weather Variables
● Wind is caused by air moving from an area of high pressure
to an area of low pressure.
○ In a south wind, the wind is coming from the south.
○ The instrument used to measure wind speed is a(n)
anemometer.
Weather Variables
● The amount of water vapor in the air is humidity.
○ When air is saturated, it holds the maximum amount of
water vapor possible at that temperature.
○ Relative humidity is the amount of water vapor in the
air compared to the maximum amount of water vapor the
air can hold at that temperature.
○ Relative humidity is reported as a(n) percent.
Weather Variables
● When air near the ground becomes saturated, the water
vapor condenses into a liquid and forms dew.
○ If the temperature is below 0°C, ice crystals referred to
as frost, form.
○ The temperature at which air becomes fully saturated
because the temperature decreases while the amount of
moisture stays constant is the dew point.
Weather Variables
● As warm air rises in the atmosphere, it cools.
○ When the air cools enough that the dew point is reached, small
droplets of water form.
○ Clouds are water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the
atmosphere.
○ Fog is a cloud that forms near Earth’s surface.
○ Stratus clouds are flat, white, and layered.
○ Cumulus clouds are fluffy and are present at 2,000 to 6,000 m
altitude.
○ Cirrus clouds are wispy and are present above 6,000 m
altitude.
Weather Variables
● Precipitation is water, in liquid or solid form, that falls from
the atmosphere.
○ Precipitation that falls as liquid water is rain.
○ Precipitation that is solid crystals of ice is snow.
○ Precipitation that starts as snow and then melts and freezes
again is called sleet.
○ Hail is precipitation formed when ice pellets rise and fall
within a cloud, adding new layers of ice during each cycle.
Weather Variables
● The water cycle is the series of natural processes in which
water continually moves among oceans, land, and the
atmosphere.
○ Water enters the atmosphere as water vapor when liquid
water on Earth’s surface evaporates.
○ As water vapor cools, it condenses, forming liquid
water.
○ Clouds produce precipitation, which is when liquid or
frozen water falls to Earth’s surface.

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