General Weather Definitions.

ANTICYCLONE: Motion in a clockwise manner in the northern hemisphere and motion in an anticlockwise manner in the southern hemisphere.

ATMOSPHERE:The gaseous portion of a planet; the planet's envelope of air; one of the traditional subdivisions of the earth's physical environment.

COLD ADVECTION: Transport of cold air into a region by horizontal winds.

CYCLONE: An atmospheric closed circulation rotating counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

HURRICANE: A severe tropical cyclone having winds in excess of 64 knots.

HURRICANE SEASON: The portion of the year having a relatively high indidence of hurricanes. The hurricane season in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico runs from June 1 to November 30. The hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific basin runs from May 15 to November 30. The hurricane season in the Central Pacific basin runs from June 1 to November 30.

ISENTROPIC SURFACE: A two-dimensional surface containing points of equal potential temperature.

ISOBAR: A line connecting points of equal pressure.

ISODROSOTHERM: A line connecting points of equal dew point temperature.

ISOHYET: A line connecting points of equal precipitation amounts.

ISOPLETH: General term for a line connecting points of equal value of some quantity. Isobars, isotherms, etc. all are examples of isopleths.

ISOTACH: A line connecting points of equal wind speed.

ISOTHERM: A line connecting points of equal temperature.

JET STREAM: Relatively strong winds concentrated in a narrow stream in the atmosphere, normally referring to horizontal, high-altitude winds.

METEOROLOGY: The study of the atmosphere and atmospheric phenomena.

RIDGE: An elongated area of relatively high atmospheric pressure; the opposite of trough.

STORM SURGE: An abnormal rise in sea level accompanying a hurricane or other intense storm, and whose height is the difference between the observed level of the sea surface and the level that would have occurred in the absence of the cyclone. Storm surge is usually estimated by subtracting the normal or astronomic high tide from the observed storm tide.

TROPICAL DEPRESSION: A tropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind speed (using the U.S. 1-minute average) is 33 kt (38 mph or 62 km/hr) or less.

TROPICAL STORM: Organized thunderstorms with cyclonic wind speed between 35-64 knots.

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