Outline of Meteorology - Meteorological Phenomena

Meteorological Phenomena

• Atmospheric pressure – the pressure at any given point in the Earth's atmosphere
• Cloud – a visible mass of droplets or frozen crystals floating in the atmosphere above the surface of a planet
• Rain – precipitation in which separate drops of water fall to the Earth from clouds, a product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor
• Snow – precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds

• Freezing rain – precipitation that falls from a cloud as snow, melts completely on its way down, then passes through a layer of below-freezing air becoming supercooled, at which point it will freeze upon impact with any object encountered
• Sleet – term used in the United States and Canada for precipitation consisting of small, translucent ice balls, usually smaller than hailstones
• Tropical cyclone – a storm system with a low pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain
• Extratropical cyclone – a low-pressure weather system occurring in the middle latitudes of the Earth having neither tropical nor polar characteristics
• Weather front – a boundary separating two masses of air of different densities; the principal cause of meteorological phenomena
• Low pressure – a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower in relation to the surrounding area
• Storm – any disturbed state of the atmosphere and strongly implying severe weather
• Flooding – an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges the land; a deluge
• Nor'easter – a macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States, named for the winds that come from the northeast
• Wind – the flow of air or other gases that compose an atmosphere; caused by rising heated air and cooler air rushing in to occupy the vacated space.
• Temperature – a physical property that describes our common notions of hot and cold
• Invest (meteorology) – An area with the potential for tropical cyclone development