New Word #57: Weather Related

Image by Cindy Lever from Pixabay

Tornado And Wind

tornado: a mobile, destructive vortex of violently rotating winds having the appearance of a funnel-shaped cloud and advancing beneath a large storm system.

tempest: a violent windy storm.

blizzard: a severe snowstorm with high winds and low visibility.

derecho: a widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms

haboob: Haboob is an intense sand-and-dust storm, which carries on winds blowing in summertime in desert regions of the world.

Deluge And Flood

deluge: a severe flood.

flash flood: a sudden local flood, typically due to heavy rain.

tsunami: a long high sea wave caused by an earthquake, submarine landslide, or other disturbance.

Conflagration and Fire

conflagration: an extensive fire which destroys a great deal of land or property.

firenado: a rapidly rotating column of flames above an intense fire, caused when air, dust, etc. is drawn into the fire from the surroundings and rises, creating a vortex.

firestorm: violent convection caused by a large continuous area of intense fire.

firewhirl: A spinning, moving column of ascending air rising from a vortex and carrying aloft smoke, debris and flames.

sleeper fire: A fire that remains dormant for a considerable time after it starts.

Frost And Ice

permafrost: a thick subsurface layer of soil that remains frozen throughout the year, occurring chiefly in polar regions.

glacier: a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight.

iceberg: a large floating mass of ice detached from a glacier or ice sheet and carried out to sea.

Various Storms

rainstorm: a storm with heavy rain.

sandstorm: a strong wind carrying clouds of sand with it, especially in a desert.

snowstorm: a heavy fall of snow, especially with a high wind.

ice storm: a storm of freezing rain that leaves a coating of ice.

dust storm: a strong, turbulent wind which carries clouds of fine dust, soil, and sand over a large area.

hailstorm: a storm of heavy hail. Hail refers to ice or frozen rain drops falling in showers.

thunderstorm: a storm with thunder and lightning and typically also heavy rain or hail.

Scientific Instruments

altimeter: An aneroid barometer calibrated to indicate altitude instead of pressure.

anemometer: An instrument for measuring the speed of wind.

Barometer: An instrument for measuring the pressure of the atmosphere.

Rain Gage: An instrument for measuring precipitation.

Other Weather Related Terms

thundersnow: snowfall accompanied by thunder and lightning.

nor’easter: A nor’easter is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean.

polar vortex: a very large, long-lived, rotating low-pressure system located near the north or south pole, especially in winter.

Pineapple Express: a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent flow of moisture and associated with heavy precipitation from the waters adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands and extending to any location along the Pacific coast of North America.

waterspout: a rotating column of water and spray formed by a whirlwind occurring over the sea or other body of water.