- Industry: Weather
- Number of terms: 60695
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The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, AMS has a membership of more than 14,000 professionals, ...
A number denoting the speed (or “strength”) of the wind according to the Beaufort wind scale.
Industry:Weather
A number denoting the speed (or “strength”) of the wind according to the Beaufort wind scale.
Industry:Weather
Spanish word for “breeze,” usually applied to northeasterly winds blowing off the sea. It has a number of specific applications: 1) On the east coast of Brazil and in Venezuela, it refers to the northeast trade wind; 2) at Montevideo, Uruguay, it is a strong breeze, possibly a sea breeze; 3) in the Philippines, it refers to the northeast monsoon; 4) in northern Puerto Rico, brisa is the northeast trade wind deflected to the east by the east–west mountain ridge; and 5) in Colombia, South America, it is a light, damp breeze. Brisa is also used to denote either or both components of a land and sea breeze system. Compare brisote.
Industry:Weather
A term used in the early days of Sydney, Australia, when there were brickfields (presumably, areas where clay was dug and bricks were made) on the southern side of town. It refers to a southerly burster that raised a lot of red dust that covered the town.
Industry:Weather
Two different real parts of the refractive index for electromagnetic waves, identical except for their states of (orthogonal) polarization. By orthogonal is meant that the waves have opposite handedness, the same ellipticity, and the major axes of their vibration ellipses are perpendicular to each other. The most general birefringence is elliptical, specific examples of which are linear and circular. The birefringence of a medium originates from its asymmetry. See polarization, dichroism; compare double refraction.
Industry:Weather
(Literally, mountain wind. ) A hot, dry, squally wind blowing off the interior plateau of South Africa, roughly at right angles to the coast; a type of foehn. Berg winds blow mainly in winter, when a strong anticyclone occupies the interior plateau, producing outflow across the coastal regions of South Africa. They are especially frequent and noticeable on the cool west coast, where they set in suddenly during the morning, bring a temperature rise of 15°–20°C, giving maxima of 22°–35°C, and cause the relative humidity to fall from nearly 100% to 30% or less. Here, on days when the sea breeze sets in about noon, the temperature drops by 10°–16°C even more suddenly than it had risen at the onset of the berg wind. Berg wind episodes may last two to three days, causing uncomfortable weather for people and damage to crops. At Port Nolloth in southwest Africa, berg winds occur on an average of 48 days a year, June and July having nine each and the whole summer half-year (October through March) a total of only six. See hot wind; compare mountain wind.
Industry:Weather
A theoretical explanation of the process by which precipitation particles may form within a mixed cloud (composed of both ice crystals and liquid water drops). The basis of this theory is the fact that the equilibrium vapor pressure of water vapor with respect to ice is less than that with respect to liquid water at the same subfreezing temperature. Thus, within an admixture of these particles, and provided that the total water content were sufficiently high, the ice crystals would gain mass by vapor deposition at the expense of the liquid drops that would lose mass by evaporation. Upon attaining sufficient weight, the ice crystals would fall as snow and very likely become further modified by accretion, melting, and/or evaporation before reaching the ground. This theory was first proposed by T. Bergeron in 1933, and further developed by W. Findeisen. Certain of its features related to nucleation had been suggested by A. Wegener as early as 1911. Operation of this process requires numerous small water drops that are supercooled, which is a common feature in clouds between about 0° and −20°C or below, along with a small number of ice crystals. The crystals grow by vapor deposition at a rate (maximum at about −12°C) to give individual snow crystals in some 10 to 20 minutes. Much cloud seeding is based upon the introduction of artificial ice nuclei to supply more of the ice particles.
Industry:Weather
Spanish word for “breeze,” usually applied to northeasterly winds blowing off the sea. It has a number of specific applications: 1) On the east coast of Brazil and in Venezuela, it refers to the northeast trade wind; 2) at Montevideo, Uruguay, it is a strong breeze, possibly a sea breeze; 3) in the Philippines, it refers to the northeast monsoon; 4) in northern Puerto Rico, brisa is the northeast trade wind deflected to the east by the east–west mountain ridge; and 5) in Colombia, South America, it is a light, damp breeze. Brisa is also used to denote either or both components of a land and sea breeze system. Compare brisote.
Industry:Weather
A northeasterly storm in Alaska, bringing sleet or snow; it is similar to the winter buran or purga of Russia and Siberia. See blizzard.
Industry:Weather
A northeasterly storm in Alaska, bringing sleet or snow; it is similar to the winter buran or purga of Russia and Siberia. See blizzard.
Industry:Weather
