Download Science Explorer-Weather Patterns

Directions on How to Use the
Flashcards
1. Print the cards, and paste the
pictures on the back of the
vocabulary cards.
2. After you paste the pictures on
the back of the cards, cut the cards
out.
3. Try to match the vocabulary word
with the correct definition. You
will know if you’re correct if the
pictures match up.
*The vocabulary terms and their definitions were taken
from Prentice Hall: Science Explorer
Air Mass
A huge body of air
that has similar
temperature, pressure,
and humidity
throughout.
Tropical
A warm air mass that
forms in the tropics
and has low air
Pressure.
Polar
A cold air mass that
forms north of 50 degrees
north latitude or south of
50 degrees south latitude
and has high air pressure.
Maritime
A humid air mass that
forms over oceans.
Continental
Front
A dry air mass that
forms over land.
The area where air
masses meet and don’t
mix.
Occluded
Cut off, as warm air
mass at an occluded
front is cut off from
the ground by cooler
air beneath it.
Cyclone
A swirling center of
low pressure.
Anticyclone
A high pressure center
of dry air.
Storm
A violent disturbance
in the atmosphere.
Lightning
A sudden spark, or
energy discharge, caused
when electrical charges
jump between parts of a
cloud or between a cloud
and the ground.
Tornado
A rapidly whirling,
funnel-shaped cloud that
reaches down from a
storm cloud to touch
Earth’s surface, usually
leaving a destructive
Hurricane
Storm Surge
Evacuate
Flash Flood
A tropical storm that
has winds of 119
kilometers per hour or
higher; typically about
600 kilometers across.
A dome of water that
swoops across the
coast where a
hurricane lands.
To move away
temporarily.
A sudden, violent
flood that occurs
within a few hours, or
even minutes of a
heavy rain storm.
Meteorologist
Scientists who study
the causes of weather
and try to predict it.
El Nino
An event that occurs every 2-7
years in the Pacific Ocean,
during which winds shift and
push warm surface water
toward the coast of South
America; it can cause dramatic
climate changes.
Isobar
Lines on a map
joining places that
have the same air
pressure.
Isotherm
Lines on a map
joining places that
have the same air
temperature.