Weather Vocabulary

The layer of air that surrounds our

planet

atmosphere

Particles of air pressing down on the Earth’s surface

air pressure

The layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that is closest to

the Earth

troposphere

The layer of the Earth’s atmosphere

that contains the ozone

stratosphere

The warming of the Earth caused by the

atmosphere trapping thermal energy from the

SunSun

Greenhouse effect

A huge body of airhuge body of air that has similar

temperature and moisture

Air mass

The border where two air masses

meet

Front

Wispy, high-altitude clouds that are made up of ice

crystals

*fair weather

cirrus

Puffy cotton-ballPuffy cotton-ball clouds that form

when water droplets condense at middle

altitudes

cumulus

Towering dark rainTowering dark rain clouds with a

nimbus, or halo, of gray-white

*thunderstorms, rain

cumulonimbus

Dark gray cloudsDark gray clouds that form a low layer

and sometimes brings light rain or

snow showers*blanket

stratus

Instrument that measures air

pressure

barometer

The amount of water vapor in the

air

Humidity

An instrument that measures moisture

in the air

hygrometer

An instrument that is used to measure

wind speed.

anemometer