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21 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What are cirrus clouds?
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They are wispy, feathery clouds. They occur at high levels. They are made of ice crystals. Cirrocumulous indicate that a storm is on its way.
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What are cumulous clouds?
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Cumulous clouds are fluffy, rounded clouds. Cumulonimbus clouds mean rain.
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What are stratus clouds?
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They are clouds that occur in flat layers. When they thicken they produce drizzle. They are then called nimbostratus clouds.
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Altocumulous and Altostratus
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Middle level clouds that are higher than regular cumulous and stratus clouds but are lower that cirrus and other high clouds.
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What is fog?
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Clouds that form at or near the ground.
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What is precipitation?
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Precipitation is and form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth's surface.
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What are the common types of precipitation?
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The common types of precipitation are rain, sleet, snow, freezing rain, and hail.
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What is rain?
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Rain is the most common type of precipitation.
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What is sleet?
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Sleet is ice perticles that are smaller than 5 mm in diameter.
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What is freezing rain?
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Rain that freezes when it touches a cold surface.
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What is snow?
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Snow is when water vapor is turned directly into ice crystals called snowflakes. They have 6 sides.
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What is hail?
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Hail is round pellets of ice larger than 5 mm in diameter. It forms only in cumulonimbus clouds. They become large when strong updrafts carry it through the cold region many times.
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How do you measure snow?
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Snow is measured either using a meterstick or melting collected snow and seeing the depth of the water it produces.
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How do you measure rain?
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Rain is measured using a rain gauge.
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What is an air mass?
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An air mass is a huge body of air that has similar temperature, humidity, and air pressure at any given height.
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What are the 4 major types of air masses in the United States?
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maritime tropical, continental tropical, maritime polar, and continental polar.
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What characteristics do tropical air masses have?
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they are warm, form in the tropics, and have low pressure.
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What characteristics do polar air masses have?
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they are cold, and have a high air pressure.
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What characteristics do maritime air masses have?
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they form over oceans, and they are very humid because water evaporates over the oceans.
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What characteristics do continental air masses have?
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they form over land and are drier than maritime air masses because they do not form over water.
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How are air masses moved?
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In the continental US, air masses are commonly moved by the prevailing westerlies and jet streans.
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