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Can You Speak “Weather-ese”? By Ressano Machado W inds and barometric pressure are words you might see or hear on a weather app or the weather report. Air pressure is the force of air pressing on everything on the earth’s surface. It is measured with an instrument called a barometer. Air pressure changes with the density and temperature of air. Try this experiment: blow up a balloon and squeeze its opening so that no air can escape. The air inside the balloon has higher pressure than the air outside, and pushes the surface of the balloon outward to give it its round shape. What happens if you let go? The air inside whooshes out and the balloon soon goes flat. As you let go, the balloon also starts flying as the high-pressure air rushes out. That’s physics! Air always moves from areas where it’s under high pressure to lower pressure. When this happens on a large scale, we call it wind. Let’s explore some other weather words that are tied to winds. Jet streams are fast winds high up in the atmosphere, at about 35,000 feet above sea level … where jets fly! These winds are caused by the earth’s rotation on its axis, and the sun heating the atmosphere. Catching a tail wind from a jet stream allows a plane to travel very quickly. During the 1930s, the jet stream weakened and moved farther south than normal, robbing the middle part of the U.S. of much-needed moisture. This condition created the “Dust Bowl” — a time when severe dust storms and drought ruined farm crops and the ecology. A vortex occurs when a liquid or gas spins around an imaginary axis. You can see vortex examples in satellite pictures of hurricanes, or when you pull the plug from a bathtub full of water. The polar vortex is an area of low pressure in the upper atmosphere, normally centered high over Baffin Island in Canada. It is strongest in winter due to the large temperature differences between the United States and the polar areas. The polar vortex was blown far south of its typical position in 2014, bringing us the third-coldest winter on record after 1979 and 1899! El Niño is a weather pattern influenced by higher ocean-surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. As early as the 1600s, South American fishermen had documented the unusually warm waters in the ocean around December. When we’re having an “El Niño year,” there are typically warmer temperatures over the western and northern United States. Wetter conditions are also likely for the Gulf Coast and Florida, while the Ohio Valley and the Pacific Northwest are drier. Ressano Machado is Senior Lecturer at the University of WisconsinLa Crosse. Word Search Answer Key EAFML I EAATSTA I ES I E I A O T OH E H E R NOHC L H OGOOE NNMA I S A EECHA ORNHSD I T S L NCE L A I U RE T T AME T A L UC I TRAP I E P C T F N S REDMSP B ND CN S DH L T OROA A RSODS I H I S GMB T D T G E G I N RH FOS S I L F UE L S E TRDOL T UMO L L GS T S E A NA I RE E S L F V I CNUE T A V I OUT OEEEU I I RRPEXTXX L I PGTGEDEOA I UTYE I TS GARN L PODSNCGT FDES MS C NU S A I VNE E NT EOE RE SD L AS I NNB A I E T ST L S T S I GO L OROE T EMRV