day

days (plural)
daie (alternative obsolete)
daye (alternative obsolete)

Sranan Tongo: dei

Etymology tree
Middle English day
English day
Inherited from Middle English day, from Old English dæġ (“day”), from Proto-West Germanic *dag, from Proto-Germanic *dagaz (“day”); see there for more.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Dai (“day”), West Frisian dei (“day”), Dutch dag (“day”), German Low German Dag (“day”), Alemannic German Däi (“day”), German Tag (“day”), Swedish, Norwegian and Danish dag (“day”), Icelandic dagur (“day”), Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (dags, “day”). Possible cognates beyond Germanic relatives include Albanian djeg (“to burn”), Lithuanian degti (“to burn”), Tocharian A tsäk-, Russian жечь (žečʹ, “to burn”), Sanskrit दाह (dāhá, “heat”), दहति (dáhati, “to burn”), Latin foveō (“to warm, keep warm, incubate”).
Latin diēs, Russian день (denʹ), Lithuanian dienà are false cognates; they all derive from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“to shine”).

cog

any day of the week and twice on Sundays

even a stopped clock is right twice a day

every day of the week and twice on Sundays

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof

Your 8am forecast: The high for the day will be 30 and the low, before dawn, will be 10.

(informal or meteorology) A 24-hour period beginning at 6am or sunrise.


ablation

en-noun

ablation (countable and uncountable, plural ablations)

From Late Middle English ablacioun (“removal”), from Late Latin ablātiō (“a taking away”), from auferō (“to take away, carry off, withdraw, remove”) + -tiō (“-tion”, nominal suffix). Doublet of ablatio. Compare French ablation. By surface analysis, ablat(e) + -ion.

af

(sciences) The progressive removal of material by any of a variety of processes such as melting or vaporization under heat or chipping.

(meteorology) The depletion of surface snow and ice from a spacecraft or meteorite through melting and evaporation caused by aerodynamic heating.


today

todays (plural)
to-day (alternative archaic)
to day (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English today, to-daie, todæig, from Old English tōdæġ, tō dæġe (“today”, literally “on [the/this] day, [this] day forward”), equivalent to to + day. Compare Saterland Frisian däälich (“today”), Dutch vandaag (“today”), Old Saxon hindag (“today”, literally “[this] day forward”), German Low German vandage, vandaag (“today”), Swedish i dag, idag (“today”).

ma

mostly in set phrases, otherwise literary

never put off until tomorrow what you can do today

(informal or meteorology) The 24-hour period beginning at 6am or sunrise of the current day.


spring

en-noun

spring (countable and uncountable, plural springs)

Arlington Springs Man
Beijing Spring
Berber Spring
Croatian Spring
Damascus Spring
Operation Spring Awakening
Operation Spring Cleanup
Operation Spring of Youth
Prague Spring
Spring Palace
Spring of Nations
Springbal
Springfest
The Spring Offensive
spring

From Middle English spryng (“a wellspring, tide, branch, sunrise, kind of dance or blow, ulcer, snare, flock”); partly from Old English spring (“wellspring, ulcer”), from Proto-West Germanic *spring, from Proto-Germanic *springaz (“a wellspring, fount”); and partly from Old English spryng (“a jump”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprungi, from Proto-Germanic *sprungiz (“a jump”). Further senses derived from the verb and from clippings of day-spring, springtime, spring tide, etc. Its sense as the season, first attested in a work predating 1325, gradually replaced Middle English lente, lentin, from Old English lencten (“spring, Lent”) as that word became more specifically liturgical. Compare fall.

ааԥын

season between winter and summer in temperate climates

I spent my spring holidays in Morocco.

The spring issue will be out next week.

(countable, uncountable) The season of the year in temperate regions in which temperatures and daylight hours rise, and plants spring from the ground and into bloom and dormant animals spring to life.

(meteorology) The three months of March, April, and May in the Northern Hemisphere and September, October, and November in the Southern Hemisphere.

про́лет

the three months March to May (N. Hem.) or September to November (S. Hem.)


zero

From Spanish zero (now cero), Middle French zero (modern French zéro), and their etymon Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”), itself calqued from (semantic loan) Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “void, nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre.

der

(meteorology) Of a cloud ceiling, limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less.

nolla

meteorology: of a cloud ceiling: limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less

(meteorology) Of horizontal visibility, limited to 165 feet (50.3 meters) or less.

nolla

meteorology: of horizontal visibility: limited to 165 feet (50.3 meters) or less


FBI

→ Arabic: إِف بِي أَي (ʔif bī ʔay)

→ Bulgarian: ФБР (FBR)

→ Dutch: FBI

→ French: FBI

→ Galician: FBI

desc

→ Hindi: एफ़ बी आई (ef bī āī)

→ Hindi: एफ़ बी आई (ef bī āī)

→ Indonesian: FBI

→ Japanese: エフ・ビー・アイ

→ Japanese: エフ・ビー・アイ

→ Marathi: एफ्.बी.आय्. (eph.bī.āy.)

→ Persian: افبیآی

→ Portuguese: FBI

→ Romanian: FBI

→ Russian: ФБР (FBR)

→ Thai: เอฟบีไอ

→ Thai: เอฟบีไอ

(Australia, weather, firefighting) fire behaviour index


few

head

few (comparative fewer or less, superlative fewest or least)

fewer (comparative)
less (comparative)
fewest (superlative)
least (superlative)

From Middle English fewe, from Old English fēaw (“few”), from Proto-West Germanic *fau, from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”).
Cognate with Old Saxon fā (“few”), Old High German fao, fō (“few, little”), Old Norse fár (“few”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍃 (faus, “few”). Also related with Latin paucus (“little, few”) and pauper (“poor”), from which latter English poor and pauper; see these.

der

you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette

Tonight: A few clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight.

NOAA definition of the term "few clouds": An official sky cover classification for aviation weather observations, descriptive of a sky cover of 1/8 to 2/8. This is applied only when obscuring phenomena aloft are present--that is, not when obscuring phenomena are surface-based, such as fog.

(meteorology, of clouds) Obscuring one to two oktas (eighths) of the sky.

selkeä (see: pilvisyys)

meteorology: obscuring 1-2 eighths of the sky

(meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location) (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.


derecho

/dəˈɹeɪ.t͡ʃoʊ/

Learned borrowing from Spanish derecho (“straight”). First used by Gustavus Detlef Hinrichs in 1888, apparently coined to distinguish the winds from tornadoes, which rotate; compare tornado. Doublet of direct.

lbor

Combining all of the above, the Arkansas Valley, Ouachita Mountains, Interior Plateau, and Southwest Appalachian ecoregions have the greatest risk of wind damage from tornadoes and derechos, whereas weakening hurricanes are an important disturbance, especially in the Piedmont ecoregion.

2015, Chris J. Peterson, Jeffery B. Cannon, Christopher M. Godfrey, “5: First Steps Toward Defining the Wind Disturbance Regime in Central Hardwoods Forests”, in Cathryn H. Greenberg, Beverly S. Collins, editors, Natural Disturbances and Historic Range of Variation, Springer, page 116:

Derechos have winds as powerful as those of some hurricanes and tornadoes. "Derecho" comes from the Spanish word meaning "straight."

2016, Bill Streever, And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind, Hachette, unnumbered page:

A derecho can be as destructive as a weak to moderate tornado, but the damage is mainly the result of straight-line rather than rotating winds.
However, tornadoes can also form along the bow of a derecho. Derechos can sometimes be recognized as a bank of ominous-looking "shelf" clouds that appear darker than normal clouds.

2022, Alexander Gates, Earth's Fury, Wiley, unnumbered page:

(meteorology, US) A windstorm characterized by strong, straight-line winds.

dereĉo

windstorm with strong straight-line winds


absorption

en-noun

absorption (countable and uncountable, plural absorptions)

First attested in 1597. From Latin absorptiō (“a sucking in”), from absorbeō (“absorb”). Morphologically absorb + -tion.

اِسْتِيعَاب

act or process of absorbing or sucking in anything

абсо́рбция

act or process of being absorbed and made to disappear

The act or process of absorbing or of being absorbed as,

(meteorology) The process in which incident radiant energy is retained by a substance (such as an air mass) by conversion to some other form of energy (such as heat).


storm

→ Esperanto: ŝtormo

→ Irish: stoirm

→ Scottish Gaelic: stoirm

From Middle English storm (“disturbed state of the atmosphere; heavy precipitation; battle, conflict; attack”) [and other forms], from Old English storm (“tempest, storm; attack; storm of arrows; disquiet, disturbance, tumult, uproar; onrush, rush”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *sturm (“storm”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz (“storm”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH- (“to agitate, stir up; to propel; to urge on”). Related to stir.
Cognates
* Danish storm (“storm”)
* Dutch storm (“storm”)
* German Sturm (“storm”)
* Icelandic stormur (“storm”)
* Low German storm (“storm”)
* Norwegian Bokmål storm (“storm”)
* Norwegian Nynorsk storm (“storm”)
* Scots storm (“storm”)
* Swedish storm (“storm”)
* West Frisian stoarm (“storm”)

nb...

starme, steorm, storem, storme, stourme, strom

storm

Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation; a tempest.

(meteorology) A disturbed state of the atmosphere between a severe or strong gale and a hurricane on the modern Beaufort scale, with a wind speed of between 89 and 102 kilometres per hour (55–63 miles per hour; 10 on the scale, known as a "storm" or whole gale), or of between 103 and 117 kilometres per hour (64–72 miles per hour; 11 on the scale, known as a "violent storm").


close

en-adj

close (comparative closer, superlative closest)

closer (comparative)
closest (superlative)

open

antonym(s) of “articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate”

Borrowed from French clos, from Latin clausum, participle of claudō.

close only counts in horseshoes and darts

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

Compressed, restricted, constrained, etc.

(Ireland, UK, weather) Hot, humid, with no wind.


invest

(meteorology) A designated area of disturbed weather that is being monitored for potential tropical cyclone development.


north

From Middle English north, from Old English norþ, from Proto-West Germanic *norþr, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nér (“below (the surface)”). The meaning developed either from "region where the sun is below (the earth)" or from "left side of someone who turns to the east when praying".
Cognate with various Germanic counterparts such as Dutch noord, West Frisian noard, German Nord, Danish and Norwegian nord; also with Greek νέρτερος (nérteros, “infernal, lower”) and Sanskrit नरक (naraka, “hell”)

cog

The north wind was cold.


east

westward

antonym(s) of “situated or lying in or towards the east”

From Middle English est, from Old English ēast, from Proto-West Germanic *austr, from Proto-Germanic *austrą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewsér (“east”). Compare West Frisian east, Dutch oost, German Ost, Danish øst, Norwegian Nynorsk aust, Swedish öst.

(meteorology) Blowing (as wind) from the east.


south

From Middle English south, from Old English sūþ, from Proto-West Germanic *sunþr, from Proto-Germanic *sunþrą (whence also West Frisian súd, Dutch zuid, German Süd, Danish syd). Ultimately equivalent to sun + -ther (“-ward”).


west

PIE word
 *wek(ʷ)speros
From Middle English west, from Old English west, from Proto-West Germanic *westr, from Proto-Germanic *westrą.
Cognate with Scots wast, Saterland Frisian Wääste, West Frisian west, Dutch west, German West, Danish vest. Cognate also with Old French west, French ouest, Spanish oeste, Portuguese oeste, Catalan oest, Galician oeste, Italian ovest (all ultimately borrowings of the English word). Compare also Latin vesper (“evening”), with which it is possibly cognate via Proto-Indo-European.


AR

en-noun

AR (countable and uncountable, plural ARs)

atmospheric river
atmospheric river#English

(meteorology) Initialism of atmospheric river.


rain

rain (usually uncountable, plural rains)

rains (plural)
rayne (alternative obsolete)
raygne (alternative obsolete)

Sranan Tongo: alen

From Middle English reyn, rein, from Old English reġn, from Proto-West Germanic *regn, from Proto-Germanic *regną, of uncertain origin. Possibly from pre-Germanic *Hréǵ-no-, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreǵ- (“to flow”), although the consonant reflexes don't match.

We've been having a lot of rain lately.

The rains came late that year.

This process involves cloud seeding – when various substances are put into clouds in an attempt to cause rain.

2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)

(meteorology) Condensed water falling from a cloud.

kōpatapata

light rain but falling in large droplets


rain

en-verb

rain (third-person singular simple present rains, present participle raining, simple past and past participle rained)

rains (present singular third-person)
raining (participle present)
rained (participle past)
rained (past)
rain (infinitive)
rain (first-person present singular)
rained (first-person past singular)
rain (present second-person singular)
rainest (archaic present second-person singular)
rained (past second-person singular)
rainedst (archaic past second-person singular)
rains (present singular third-person)
raineth (archaic present singular third-person)
rained (past singular third-person)
rain (plural present)
rained (past plural)
rain (present subjunctive)
rained (past subjunctive)
rain (imperative present)
raining (participle present)
rained (participle past)

From Middle English reinen, from Old English reġnian, from Proto-West Germanic *regnōn, from Proto-Germanic *regnōną, from *regną (“rain”), as above.

don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining

don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining

piss on someone's leg and tell them it's raining

Judging by the black cloud, it will rain later today.

(impersonal, meteorology) To have rain fall from the sky.

طاحت الشتا (tāḥit eš-šta, literally “rain fell”)

صبت الشتا (sabbāt eš-šta, literally “rain fell”)

आकाशातून पडणे

ākāśātūn paḍṇe

идти́

usage: дождь идёт (doždʹ idjót, “it's raining”)

па́дати impf (pádaty, literally “to fall”)


break

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). Doublet of bray.
Cognates
Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”).
Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment.

cog

(British, weather) A change, particularly the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather.


broken

en-adj

broken (comparative more broken, superlative most broken)

more broken (comparative)
most broken (superlative)

From Middle English broken, from Old English brocen, ġebrocen, from Proto-Germanic *brukanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”). Cognate with Dutch gebroken (“broken”), German Low German broken (“broken”), German gebrochen (“broken”). Morphologically broke + -n.

the pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last

Tomorrow: broken skies.

(meteorology, of the sky) Five-eighths to seven-eighths obscured by clouds; incompletely covered by clouds.

ennuvolat

meteorology: five eighths to seven eighths obscured by clouds


cell

From Middle English celle, selle, from Old English cell (attested in inflected forms), from Latin cella (“chamber, small room, compartment”), later reinforced by Old French cel, sele, Old French cele. ultimately from Proto-Italic *kelnā, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelneh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cella and hall.

der

intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cell

melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cell

There is a powerful storm cell headed our way.

(meteorology) A small thunderstorm, caused by convection, that forms ahead of a storm front.

solu

small thunderstorm that forms ahead of a storm front


shear

en-verb

shear (third-person singular simple present shears, present participle shearing, simple past sheared or shore, past participle shorn or sheared)

shears (present singular third-person)
shearing (participle present)
sheared (past)
shore (past)
shorn (participle past)
sheared (participle past)

From Middle English sheren, scheren, from Old English sċieran (“to shear; to shave”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeran, from Proto-Germanic *skeraną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”).
Cognate with West Frisian skarre, Low German scheren, Dutch scheren, German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian Bokmål skjære, Norwegian Nynorsk skjera, Swedish skära, Finnish keritä; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “I cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian shqerr (“to tear, cut”), harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.

inh

The total along-the-runway wind component sheared from an 8-knot headwind to about a 56-knot tailwind over a 44-second period.

1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.3 Airplane Takeoff Performance”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page 41:

(aviation, meteorology, intransitive, of wind) To change in direction or speed.


shear

en-noun

shear (countable and uncountable, plural shears)

The first effect of a wind shear was detected at 34 to 42 seconds into the takeoff, at a speed of about 115 KIAS with the airplane about 3,800 feet down the runway. An average shear rate of about 2.5 knots per second resulted in an interruption in acceleration at this point with the airspeed remaining at 115 to 120 KIAS for 7 to 10 seconds.

(aviation, meteorology, uncountable) The phenomenon of wind shear.

We hit a nasty shear on approach and had to go around.

(aviation, meteorology, countable) A specific instance of wind shear.


clear

en-adj

clear (comparative clearer, superlative clearest)

clearer (comparative)
clearest (superlative)
CLR (alternative)

→ Welsh: clir

From Middle English clere, from Anglo-Norman cler, from Old French cler (Modern French clair), from Latin clarus. Displaced native Middle English schir (“clear, pure”) (from Old English scīr (“clear, bright”)), Middle English skere (“clear, sheer”) (from Old English scǣre and Old Norse skǣr (“sheer, clear, pure”)), Middle English smolt (“clear (of mind), serene”) (from Old English smolt (“peaceful, serene”)). Cognate with Danish klar, Dutch klaar, French clair, German klar, Italian chiaro, Norwegian klar, Portuguese claro, Romanian clar, Spanish claro, and Swedish klar.

(meteorology) Of the sky, such that less than one eighth of its area is obscured by clouds.

аҵәца́

meteorology: less than one-eighth obscured by clouds


control

en-noun

control (countable and uncountable, plural controls)

controls (plural)
Ctrl (alternative)
comptrol (alternative archaic)
comptroll (alternative archaic)
controll (alternative obsolete)
controul (alternative obsolete)
countrol (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English controllen, from Old French contrerole, from Medieval Latin contrārotulum (“a counter-roll or register used to verify accounts”), from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”) + Medieval Latin rotulus, Latin rotula (“roll, a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”).

der

(climatology) Any of the physical factors determining the climate of a place, such as latitude, distribution of land and water, altitude, exposure, prevailing winds, permanent high- or low-barometric-pressure areas, ocean currents, mountain barriers, soil, and vegetation.


low

From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lágr (“low”), from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz (“lying, flat, situated near the ground, low”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”).
Cognate with Scots laich (“low”), Low German leeg (“low, feeble, bad”), Danish lav (“low”), Icelandic lágur (“low”), West Frisian leech (“low”), North Frisian leeg, liig (“low”), Dutch laag (“low”), obsolete German läg (“low”). More at lie.

A deep low is centred over the British Isles.

(meteorology, informal) An area of low pressure; a depression.


high

highs (plural)
hi (alternative informal)
heigh (alternative dialectal)

From Middle English high, heigh, heih, from Old English hēah (“high, tall, lofty, high-class, exalted, sublime, illustrious, important, proud, haughty, deep, right”), from Proto-West Germanic *hauh (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz (“high”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewk- (“to elevate, height”). Cognate with Scots heich (“high”), Saterland Frisian hooch (“high”), West Frisian heech (“high”), Dutch hoog (“high”), Low German hoog (“high”), German hoch (“high”), Swedish hög (“high”), Norwegian høy (“high”), Icelandic hár (“high”), Lithuanian kaukas (“bump, boil, sore”).

der

A large high is centred on the Azores.

(meteorology, informal) A large area of elevated atmospheric pressure; an anticyclone.


attachment

en-noun

attachment (countable and uncountable, plural attachments)

From French attachement. By surface analysis, attach + -ment.

2009, Jakke Mäkelä, Eero Karvinen, Niko Porjo, Antti Mäkelä and Tapio Tuomi, Attachment of Natural Lightning Flashes to Trees: Preliminary Statistical Characteristics, published in the Journal of Lightning Research, volume 1

(meteorology) The act or process by which any (downward) leader connects to any available (upward) streamer in a lightning flash.


wedge

wedge (countable and uncountable, plural wedges)

From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.

(meteorology) A barometric ridge; an elongated region of high atmospheric pressure between two low-pressure areas.


solenoid

From French solénoïde, from Ancient Greek σωληνοειδής (sōlēnoeidḗs) (from σωλήν (sōlḗn, “channel, pipe”) + -ειδής (-eidḗs); see -oid).

(meteorology) The region of intersection between isobaric and isopycnal surfaces.


funnel

From Middle English funell, fonel, probably through Old French *founel (compare Middle French fonel, Old Occitan fonilh, enfounilh), from Latin fundibulum, infundibulum (“funnel”), from infundere (“to pour in”);
in (“in”) + fundere (“to pour”); compare Breton founilh (“funnel”), Welsh ffynel (“air hole, chimney”). See fuse.


leader

→ Catalan: líder

→ Czech: lídr

→ Galician: líder

→ Japanese: リーダー (rīdā)

→ Korean: 리더 (rideo)

→ Polish: lider

→ Portuguese: líder

→ Romanian: lider

→ Russian: ли́дер (líder)

→ Spanish: líder

→ Turkish: lider

→ Ukrainian: лі́дер (líder)

From Middle English leder, ledere, from Old English lǣdere (“leader”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī (“leader”), equivalent to lead + -er. Cognate with Scots ledar, leidar (“leader”), West Frisian lieder (“leader”), Dutch leider (“leader”), German Leiter (“leader, conductor, manager”), Danish leder (“leader, manager”), Swedish ledare (“leader, conductor, director”), Icelandic leiðari (“leader, conductor”).

cog

Someone or something that leads or conducts.

(meteorology) The path taken by electrons from a cloud to ground level, determining the shape of a bolt of lightning.


CC

en-noun

CC (countable and uncountable, plural CCs)


inch

inch (plural inches or (UK colloquial) inch)

inches (plural)
inch (UK colloquial plural)
in. (abbreviation)
in (alternative)
in. (alternative)

→ Assamese: ইঞ্চি (io͂si)

→ Hindi: इंच (iñc)

→ Indonesian: inci

→ Japanese: インチ (inchi)

→ Korean: 인치 (inchi)

→ Serbo-Croatian: и̏нч

→ Swahili: inchi

→ Turkish: inç

→ Vietnamese: inh

→ Yoruba: ínǹsì

From Middle English ynche, enche, from Old English ynċe, borrowed from Latin uncia (“Roman inch, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Cognate with Middle Dutch enke (“thumb, thumb's width, inch”). Doublet of ounce, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah.

doublet

give someone an inch and someone will take a mile

give them an inch and they'll take a mile

give them an inch and they'll take an ell

Let us consider what one inch of rain really means. If an acre of land were covered with water to the depth of only the tenth part of an inch, that layer of water would weigh more than 10 tons: thus 1 inch of rain is ten times that amount—in fact, very nearly 101 tons.

1880, Arthur Herbert Church, Food: Some Account of Its Sources, Constituents and Uses, London: Chapman and Hall, page 14:

(meteorology) A depth of one inch on the ground, used as a measurement of rainfall.


POP

(weather) Acronym of probability of precipitation.


rainfall

en-noun

rainfall (countable and uncountable, plural rainfalls)

(meteorology) The amount of rain that falls on a single occasion


front

front (countable and uncountable, plural fronts)

Tok Pisin: fran

→ Japanese: フロント (furonto)

→ Korean: 프런트 (peureonteu)

From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons.

We need to take the clothes off the line. The news reported a front is coming in from the east, and we can expect heavy rain and maybe hail.

(meteorology) The interface or transition zone between two airmasses of different density, often resulting in precipitation. Since the temperature distribution is the most important regulator of atmospheric density, a front almost invariably separates airmasses of different temperature.

фронт

meteorology: interface between airmasses


moat

From Middle English mote, from Old French mote (“mound, embankment”); compare also Old French motte (“hillock, lump, clod, turf”), from Medieval Latin mota (“a mound, hill”), of Germanic origin, perhaps via Frankish *mot, *motta (“mud, peat, bog, turf”), from Proto-Germanic *mutô, *mudraz, *muþraz (“dirt, filth, mud, swamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mut- (“dark, dirty”).
Cognate with Alemannic German Mott, Mutte (“peat, turf”), Bavarian Mott (“peat, turf”), dialectal Dutch mot (“dust, fine sand”), Saterland Frisian mut (“grit, litter, humus”), Swedish muta (“to drizzle”), Old English mot (“speck, particle”). More at mote, mud, smut.
As term for a business strategy, popularized by American investor Warren Buffett.

cog

(meteorology) A clear ring outside the eyewall of a tropical cyclone.


hurricane

hurricanes (plural)
hero-cane (alternative)
hurrican (alternative)

> Bislama: hariken (inherited)

→ German: Hurrikan

→ Hebrew: הוריקן (hurikan)

→ Irish: hairicín

→ Japanese: ハリケーン (Harikēn)

→ Korean: 허리케인 (heorikein)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Latin script: hȁriken

→ Thai: เฮอริเคน (həə-rí-keen)

Etymology tree
Taíno *hurakābor.
Spanish huracánbor.
English hurricane
Borrowed from Spanish huracán, ultimately from Taíno *hurakā.

etymon

General American, Canada, hurry–furry merger

(meteorology) A wind scale for quite strong wind, stronger than a storm.

orkaan

meteorology: a wind scale for quite strong wind


breeze

en-verb

breeze (third-person singular simple present breezes, present participle breezing, simple past and past participle breezed)

breezes (present singular third-person)
breezing (participle present)
breezed (participle past)
breezed (past)
brize (alternative)
briess (alternative)

From the earlier (nautical) term brise, brize (“breeze”), from Middle English brees (“wind”). Ultimate origin obscure.
Variously supposed to derive from a Germanic source like Saterland Frisian Briese (“breeze”), West Frisian brys (“a cool wind”), Dutch bries (“breeze”), early Dutch brysen (“to blow cool and fresh”), or from Spanish brisa (“northeast wind”).
The earliest attestations are in Middle English brees (1460), Catalan brisa, and Italian brezza (all in 15th century), with Spanish (1504) and Portuguese briza (16th century) following closely after. The aforementioned Dutch cognates and French brise, however, are attested later than the term in English. The only internal hypothesis for any of those languages is a modification of Old Occitan bisa (“strong wind”), which is not widely accepted.
Compare also Albanian breshër (“hail”).

unk

obscure

She's sitting opposite a window that's gently breezing into her face, wafting her hair into cover-girl perfection ...

2014 January 21, Hermione Hoby, “Julia Roberts interview for August: Osage County – 'I might actually go to hell for this ...': Julia Roberts reveals why her violent, Oscar-nominated performance in August: Osage County made her feel 'like a terrible person' [print version: 'I might actually go to hell for this ...' (18 January 2014, p. R4)]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):


gale

From Middle English gale (“a wind, breeze”), possibly from Old English galan, possibly an unknown North Germanic origin, related to Icelandic gola (“a breeze”), Danish gal (“furious, mad”), both from Old Norse gala (“to sing”), and thus ultimately related to the above word (etymology 1).

It's blowing a gale outside.

A force nine gale.

Many parts of the boat were damaged in the gale.

With my mother's permission and blessings, I set off exultantly for Bombay, leaving my wife with a baby of a few months. But on arrival there, friends told my brother that the Indian Ocean was rough in June and July, and as this was my first voyage, I should not be allowed to sail until November. Someone also reported that a steamer had just been sunk in a gale. This made my brother uneasy, and he refused to take the risk of allowing me to sail immediately.

1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xii

(meteorology) A very strong wind, more than a breeze, less than a storm; number 7 through to 9 winds on the 12-step Beaufort scale.


seed

en-verb

seed (third-person singular simple present seeds, present participle seeding, simple past and past participle seeded)

seeds (present singular third-person)
seeding (participle present)
seeded (participle past)
seeded (past)
sede (alternative obsolete)

]
From Middle English seed, sede, side, from Old English sēd, sǣd (“seed, that which is sown”), from Proto-West Germanic *sād, from Proto-Germanic *sēdą, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow, throw”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Säid (“seed”), West Frisian sied (“seed”), Dutch zaad (“seed”), Low German Saad (“seed”), German Saat (“seed; sowing”), Danish sæd (“seed”), Swedish säd (“seed”), Icelandic sæði (“seed”), Latin satiō (“seeding, time of sowing, season”). More at sow.

cog

A number of clouds were seeded to help provide rain to a drought-stricken area.

(meteorology) To scatter small particles within (a cloud or airmass) in order to trigger the formation of rain.


gnome

From French gnome (“gnome”), from New Latin gnomus, used by Paracelsus as a synonym for pygmaeus (“pygmy”).

(astronomy, meteorology) An upper atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms, a compact blue starter.


trace

From Middle English trace, traas, from Old French trace (“an outline, track, trace”), from the verb (see below).

der

A very small amount, often residual, of some substance or material.

(meteorology) A small amount of rain, not enough to be measured.


ceiling

From Middle English celing (“paneling; (bed) cover or hanging”), from celen (“to cover or panel walls”) (from Old French celer (“to conceal”)) + -ing (gerund-forming suffix). By surface analysis, ceil + -ing.

inh

Even though it was cloudy, there was still enough ceiling for the Blue Angels to perform a great show.

(meteorology) The measurement of visible distance from ground or sea level to an overcast cloud cover; under a clear sky, the ceiling measurement is identified as "unlimited."


pileus

Borrowed from Latin pīleus, a form of pilleus (“a felt cap”).

The most short-lived of all the accessory clouds, pileus is also the most beautiful.

2011, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, The Cloud Collector's Handbook, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

(meteorology) A small thin cloud attached to a cumulus cloud.


inversion

en-noun

inversion (countable and uncountable, plural inversions)

/ɪnˈvɜː.ʃən/

(meteorology) A situation where air temperature increases with altitude (the ground being colder than the surrounding air).


rime

rime (countable and uncountable, plural rimes)

The noun is derived from Middle English rim, rime, rym, ryme (“hoar frost; rime”), from Old English hrīm (“frost”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrīm (“rime; hoar frost”), from Proto-Germanic *hrīmą (North Germanic), *hrīmaz, *hrīmô (“rime; hoar frost”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to graze, touch; to streak”).
The verb is derived from the noun. (The Old English equivalent, which did not survive into modern English, was behrīman.)
Cognates
* Middle Dutch riim, rijm, rīm (modern Dutch rijm (“hoar frost”))
* Old Danish *rim (only in rimfrost (“rime frost”); modern Danish rim (“hoar frost”))
* Old French rime, rimee (Middle French rime, rimee (“hoar frost”), Anglo-Norman rime, rimee (“hoar frost”))
* Old High German rīm (Middle High German rīm, Bavarian Reim (“dew; fog; light frost”) (dialectal))
* Old Norse hrím (Icelandic hrím, Norwegian rim (“hoar frost”))
* Old Saxon hrīm
* Old Swedish *riim, *rim (only in rimfrost (“rime frost”); modern Swedish rim)
* West Frisian rime, rym

der

Ice formed by the rapid freezing of cold water droplets of fog on to a cold surface.

huurre

ice formed by the rapid freezing of cold water droplets of fog on to a cold surface; coating or sheet of ice so formed

(meteorology)
A coating or sheet of ice so formed.


hail

en-noun

hail (countable and uncountable, plural hails)

From Middle English hayle, haile, hail, hawel, haghil, haȝel, from Old English hæġl, hæġel, hagol (“hail”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagl, from Proto-Germanic *haglaz, of uncertain origin. Either from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰlos (“pebble”); or alternatively from *ḱoḱló-, a reduplication of *ḱel- (“cold”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hail (“hail”), West Frisian heil (“hail”), Dutch hagel (“hail”), Low German Hagel (“hail”), German Hagel (“hail”), Danish hagl (“hail”), Swedish hagel (“hail”), Icelandic hagl (“hail”). Compare also Old Norse héla (“frost”). Doublet of haglaz, if the second etymology (“cold”) is correct.
Root-cognates outside of Germanic include Ancient Greek κάχληξ (kákhlēx, “pebble”), or alternatively Sanskrit शिशिर (śíśira, “cool, cold”), possibly also Lithuanian šešėlis (“shade, shadow”), depending on the etymology.

cog

(meteorology, uncountable) Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.

(meteorology, countable) An occurrence of this type of precipitation; a hailstorm.


glory

en-noun

glory (countable and uncountable, plural glories)

From Middle English glory, glorie, from Old French glorie (“glory”), from Latin glōria (“glory, fame, renown, praise, ambition, boasting”). Doublet of gloria. Displaced native Old English wuldor.

der

(meteorology, optics) An optical phenomenon, consisting of concentric rings and somewhat similar to a rainbow, caused by sunlight or moonlight interacting with the water droplets that compose mist or clouds, centered on the antisolar or antilunar point.


tornado

→ Danish: tornado

→ Irish: tornádó

→ Italian: tornado

→ Norwegian Bokmål: tornado

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: tornado

→ Russian: торнадо (tornado)

→ Spanish: tornado

→ Dutch: tornado

→ German: Tornado

→ Portuguese: tornado

From earlier English ternado, attested since the 1550s as a nautical term for a windy thunderstorm. From Spanish tronada (“thunderstorm”), from tronar (“to thunder”), from Latin tonō (“to thunder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). The o and r were reversed in English (metathesis) under influence of Spanish tornar (“to twist, to turn”), from Latin tornō (“to turn”).

An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex. The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.

2013 March 10, Frank Fish, George Lauder, “Not Just Going with the Flow”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 2013-05-01, page 114:

(meteorology) A violent wind in the form of a mobile, rapidly rotating, funnel cloud that has contacted the ground.

tornado watch

conditions are favorable for producing a tornado


funnel cloud

When we saw the funnel cloud, we headed for the basement.

(meteorology) A tapering, rapidly rotating cloud descending from a larger storm cloud, indicating the presence of an intense vortex. A tornado is a funnel cloud which reaches the ground.


fractus

FIGURE 5.17[…]The ragged-appearing clouds beneath the nimbostratus are stratus fractus, or scud.

2013, C. Donald Ahrens, Robert Henson, Meteorology Today, 11th edition, Cengage Learning, page 130:

(meteorology) A cloud species which consists of broken shreds of cloud; scud.


greenhouse

From green + house ("house for growing greens"), in reference to the produce grown within.

(climatology) A hot state in global climate.


greenhouse effect

en-noun

greenhouse effect (plural greenhouse effects)

First used in this sense by Swedish meteorologist Nils Gustaf Ekholm in 1901.

It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here.

1988 June 24, James E. Hansen, quotee, “Quotation of the Day”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page A2:

This contrasts strangely with Mr. Bush's campaign oratory last summer. “Those who think we are powerless to do anything about the greenhouse effect forget about the ‘White House effect’; as President, I intend to do something about it,” he said in Michigan on Aug. 31. […] Mr. Bush has not acted.

1989 May 9, George H. W. Bush, quotee, “The White House and the Greenhouse”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page A30:

In August 1988, Hansen had given dramatic testimony to Congress asserting that “the scientific evidence for the greenhouse effect is overwhelming.” “The greenhouse effect is real, it is coming soon, and it will have major effects on all peoples.”

2010, Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, quoting James E. Hansen, chapter 4, in Merchants of Doubt:

(climatology, climate change) The process by which a planet is heated by solar radiation which is retained by its atmosphere.

kweekhuiseffek

process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere


agglomerate

agglomerates (plural)
aglomerate (alternative)

From Latin agglomerare (“to wind into a ball”), from ad (“to”) + glomerare (“to wind into a ball”), from glomus (“a ball”), akin to globus (“a ball”).

der

(meteorology) An ice cover of floe formed by the freezing together of various forms of ice.


meteor

From Middle French météore, from Old French, from Latin meteorum, from Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron), from μετέωρος (metéōros, “raised from the ground, hanging, lofty”), from μετά (metá, “in the midst of, among, between”) (English meta) + ἀείρω (aeírō, “to lift, to heave, to raise up”).
The original sense of “atmospheric phenomenon” gave rise to meteorology, but the meaning of "meteor" is now restricted to extraterrestrial objects burning up as they enter the atmosphere.

Europe, where the Sun dares ſcarce appeare,
For freezing Meteors and congealed cold: […]

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene i:

The twilight, the meteors call'd fire-balls, or flying dragons, and the northern lights, inhabit the higher regions of the atmosphere.

1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 10:

A meteor in the hazy air / Play’d before his path; / Before him now it roll’d / A globe of livid fire […] Anon to Thalaba it mov’d, / And wrapt him in its pale innocuous fire.

1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC:

(now meteorology) An atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon. These were sometimes classified as aerial or airy meteors (winds), aqueous or watery meteors (hydrometeors: clouds, rain, snow, hail, dew, frost), luminous meteors (rainbows and aurora), and igneous or fiery meteors (lightning and shooting stars).


col

Borrowed from French col, from Latin collum (“neck”). Doublet of collum.

(meteorology) A pressure region between two anticyclones and two low-pressure regions.


precipitate

en-verb

precipitate (third-person singular simple present precipitates, present participle precipitating, simple past and past participle precipitated)

precipitates (present singular third-person)
precipitating (participle present)
precipitated (participle past)
precipitated (past)
præcipitate (alternative)

From Latin praecipitātus, perfect passive participle of praecipitō (“throw down, hurl down, throw headlong”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more), from praeceps (“head foremost, headlong”) (praecipit- in its oblique stem), from prae (“before”) + -ceps (“headed”).

رَسَّبَ

to separate out of a liquid solution into solid form

It will precipitate tomorrow, but we don't know whether as rain or snow.

(intransitive, meteorology) To have water in the air fall to the ground, for example as rain, snow, sleet, or hail; be deposited as condensed droplets.

валя

to have water in the air fall to the ground


corona

en-noun

corona (plural coronas or coronae or (obsolete) coronæ)

coronas (plural)
coronae (plural)
coronæ (obsolete plural)

→ Japanese: コロナ (korona)

The noun is borrowed from Latin corōna (“crown; garland, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, “type of crown; curved object (door handle, tip of a bow, stern of a ship, etc.)”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). The English word is a doublet of crown, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone.
The plural form coronae is borrowed from Latin corōnae.
The verb is derived from the noun.

laki

upper or crownlike portion of certain parts of the body

kruunu

appendage of an organism that resembles a crown or corona

[page 49] Upon this true "mackarel sky" was depicted one of those glorious coronæ, only seen at great elevations or in high Latitudes. […] [page 50] The corona was composed of two colours, violet on the edge nearest to the sun and red on the outer edge, the two colours blending together and forming a neutral tint in the middle of the corona; the order here observed with regard to the colours is similar to that observed in the rainbow.

1854, Walter Stanhope Sherwill, “Notes upon Some Atmospherical Phenomena Observed at Darjiling in the Himalayah Mountains, during the Summer of 1852”, in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, volume XXIII, number LXV, Calcutta: […] J. Thomas, Baptist Mission Press, published 1855, →OCLC, pages 49 and 50:

[page 214, paragraph 423] The sun and moon, when partially covered by light, fleecy clouds, are often seen encircled by one or more colored rings, which are called coronæ. […] In order to examine coronæ about the sun, it is best to view them by reflection from a blackened mirror, by which means the brilliancy of the sun's light is very much reduced. […] [page 215, paragraph 425] Coronæ are produced by the diffraction of the rays of light in their passage through the small intervals between the particles of condensed vapor in a cloud.

1868, Elias Loomis, “Optical Meteorology”, in A Treatise on Meteorology. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, section IV (Coronæ), pages 214 and 215:

The increasing light eventually erases the moon's glowing corona, her pendant chandelier of light pales into insignificance as the new day breaks.

2013, Alfred Grossmith Mason, “14 September 1942”, in Julie Grossmith Deltrice, editor, Arctic Warriors: A Personal Account of Convoy PQ18, Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Books, →ISBN, page 55:

(meteorology) A circle or set of circles visible around a bright celestial object, especially the Sun or the Moon, attributable to an optical phenomenon produced by the diffraction of its light by small water droplets or tiny ice crystals.


rotor

From an irregular shortening of rotator. Doublet of rota and ruote.

A glider instructor, who had been in the COS area for more than 25 years, was interviewed. He stated that around 1200 on the day of the accident, he observed a rotor hit the ground with estimated wind speeds of 70 to 80 miles per hour.

2001, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.7.1 Observations and Forecasts”, in Uncontrolled Descent and Collision With Terrain, United Airlines Flight 585, Boeing 737-200, N999UA, 4 Miles South of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 3, 1991, archived from the original on 2021-01-22, pages 30–31:

(meteorology) A type of powerful horizontal-axis atmospheric vortex generated by the interaction of strong winds with mountainous terrain.


glaze

en-noun

glaze (countable and uncountable, plural glazes)

glazes (plural)
glase (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English glasen, from glas (“glass”) (Modern English glass), from Old English glæs, from Proto-Germanic *glasą. Related to glazen. In the sense of "overcompliment", originated in November 2021 and popularized throughout 2022.
The noun is from the verb.

glazierglazier's fallacyglazier's pointglazier's putty

(meteorology) A smooth coating of ice formed on objects due to the freezing of rain; glaze ice.

ledovka

meteorology: smooth coating of ice caused by freezing rain


sprite

sprites (plural)
spright (alternative obsolete)

→ Japanese: スプライト (supuraito)

→ Russian: спрайт (sprajt)

From Middle English sprite, spryt, spreyte, from Old French esprit (“spirit”), from Latin spiritus. Doublet of spirit, spiritus, spirytus, spright, and esprit.
(computer graphics): First used by Danny Hillis at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s.
(meteorology): An acronym for Stratospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification.

doublet

(meteorology) A large electrical discharge that occurs high above the cumulonimbus cloud of an active thunderstorm, which appears as a luminous red or orange flash.

紅色精靈 /红色精灵

electrical discharges that occur high above the cumulonimbus cloud of an active thunderstorm


troll

Partly:
* from Middle English trol (“demon (?); sorcerer (?)”) [and other forms], from Old Norse trǫll (“conjurer, mage; witch”), from Proto-Germanic *truzlą (“supernatural being; demon, fiend; giant; monster”), probably from *trudaną (“to step on; to tread”) + *-ilą (suffix forming agent nouns); and
* borrowed from Norwegian Bokmål troll, Swedish troll, or Danish trold, from Old Norse trǫll (see above).
Doublet of droll and trow.
Cognates
* Danish fortrylle (“to bewitch”), trylle (“to conjure”)
* Icelandic tröll
* Middle High German trol, trolle (“spook, wraith; ogre, monster”)
* Norwegian fortrylle (“to bewitch”), trylle (“to conjure”)
* Swedish trolla (“to conjure”)

der

(astronomy, meteorology) An optical ejection from the top of the electrically active core region of a thunderstorm that is red in colour and seems to occur after tendrils of vigorous sprites extend downward towards cloudtops.


celerity

en-noun

celerity (usually uncountable, plural celerities)

From Old French celeritee (compare French célérité), from Latin celeritas, from celer (“fast, swift”).

(oceanography, meteorology) The speed of an individual wave (as opposed to the speed of groups of waves); often denoted c.

(hydrology) The speed with which a perturbation to the flow propagates through the flow domain.


noctilucent

en-adj

noctilucent (comparative more noctilucent, superlative most noctilucent)

more noctilucent (comparative)
most noctilucent (superlative)

(meteorology) Shining or glowing at night, especially of very high-altitude clouds that reflect sunlight long after sunset; nightshining.


negative

negative (comparative more negative, superlative most negative)

more negative (comparative)
most negative (superlative)
-ve (alternative abbreviation)
−ve (alternative abbreviation)

From Middle English negative, negatif, from Old French negatif, from Latin negātīvus (“that denies, negative”), from negāre (“to deny”); see negate.

der

I was out in negative weather today.

(mathematics) Of a number: less than zero.

(weather) Less than zero degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit.


heat wave

heat waves (plural)
heatwave (alternative)

(idiomatic) A period of exceptionally hot weather.

(US, weather broadcasting) Three consecutive days with daytime high temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.

(UK, weather broadcasting) A period of at least three consecutive days with daily high temperatures of the respective county's temperature threshold or higher.


thermal

From French thermal, from New Latin *thermalis, from Ancient Greek θέρμη (thérmē, “heat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer- (“to heat, warm”).

The hawk had mounted its thermal by the time he got to the yard, flapping its wings violently against the updraft.

2019, Chigozie Obioma, An Orchestra of Minorities, Abacus (2019), page 91:

(meteorology) A column of rising air in the lower atmosphere created by uneven heating of a planet's surface.


icing

en-noun

icing (countable and uncountable, plural icings)

→ Swedish: icing

The Cessna pilots reported that moderate icing was present between 13,000 and 4,000 feet in the cloud layers.

(aviation, meteorology) Conditions conducive to the formation of ice on aircraft surfaces.


depression

depression (countable and uncountable, plural depressions)

From Middle English depression, depressioun, from Old French depression, from Latin dēpressiō.

(meteorology) An area of lowered air pressure that generally brings moist weather, sometimes promoting hurricanes and tornadoes.

laagdruk

meteorology: area of lowered air pressure


albedo

albedo (countable and uncountable, plural albedos or albedoes)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-albedo.wav

Borrowed from Latin albēdō (“whiteness”).

bor+

For track, painting rails white at weak points that are more prone to buckling (where the 'critical rail temperature' is close to the 'stress free temperature' [...]) increases their albedo and can help slow how quickly they heat up, reducing their temperature by perhaps five degrees or so.

2022 August 10, Gareth Dennis, “How can we run trains when the heat is on?”, in RAIL, number 963, page 45:

(physics, meteorology, astronomy, optics) The fraction of incident light or radiation reflected by a surface or body, commonly expressed as a percentage.


frontal

Borrowed from New Latin frontālis, from frons (“the forehead, brow, front”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix), equivalent to front + -al; cognate of French frontal. Doublet of frontalis.

af

(meteorology) Of or relating to a weather front.


pixie

pixies (plural)
pigsie (alternative)
piskie (alternative)
pisky (alternative)
pixy (alternative)

Uncertain; 17thC, originally in the folklore of southwest England; perhaps diminutive of Swedish pysk (“fairy”); perhaps Puck + -sy; see Wikipedia.

(astronomy, meteorology) An upper-atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms, a short-lasting pinpoint of light on the surface of convective domes that produces a gnome.


mamma

(meteorology) An accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera.


optimum

From New Latin, neuter of Latin optimus (“best, very good”), from the root or in ops (“work”), omnis (“all”).

(geology, paleontology, climatology) Any long period of time marked by a persistently warm climate; a climatic optimum.


drizzle

en-noun

drizzle (countable and uncountable, plural drizzles)

Perhaps a back-formation from dryseling, a dissimilated variant of Middle English drysning (“a falling of dew”), from Old English drysnan (“to extinguish”), related to Old English drēosan (“to fall, to decline”), making it cognate to modern English droze and drowse. Compare also dialectal Swedish drösla.

cog

No longer pouring, the rain outside slowed down to a faint drizzle.

(physics, weather) Very small, numerous, and uniformly dispersed water drops, mist, or sprinkle. Unlike fog droplets, drizzle falls to the ground.

plovisqueig

(physics, weather) numerous small and uniformly dispersed water drops


isobar

isobars (plural)
isobare (alternative dated)

From Ancient Greek ἴσος (ísos, “equal”) + βάρος (báros, “weight”), equivalent to iso- + bar-.

(meteorology) A line drawn on a map or chart connecting places of equal or constant pressure.

isòbar

line on a map connecting places of equal pressure


isogon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-isogon.wav

(cartography, meteorology) A line of equal or constant wind direction on a graph or chart, such as a weather map.


anemometer

anemometers (plural)
anemometre (alternative)

/ænɪˈmɒmətə/

/ænɪˈmɒmɪtə/

/ænɪˈmɑmətɚ/

An anemometer constructed by the Soil Mechanics Laboratory of the Western Region, British Railways, has been installed at Dawlish Warren, near Exeter, to obtain a record of the velocity (speed and direction) of the wind. This information is used for the study of the effects of wind erosion on the sand dunes which protect the railway from the sea at that point.

1952 August, “Wind Velocity Records at Dawlish”, in Railway Magazine, page 545:

This anemometer was installed by the North Eastern Railway on Staithes Viaduct in 1884, to warn signallers of dangerously high winds.

2020 December 30, Tim Dunn, “The railway's mechanical marvels”, in RAIL, page 57, photo caption:

(meteorology) An instrument for measuring and recording the speed of the wind, a windmeter.

հողմաչափ

an instrument for measuring and recording the speed of the wind


synoptic

en-adj

synoptic (comparative more synoptic, superlative most synoptic)

more synoptic (comparative)
most synoptic (superlative)

From New Latin synopticus, from Ancient Greek συνοπτικός (sunoptikós, “seeing the whole together or at a glance”), from σύνοψις (súnopsis, “a general view, synopsis”), from συν- (sun-, “with”) + ὄψις (ópsis, “view”).

der

(meteorology, especially of meteorological data) Obtained simultaneously over a wide area, for presenting a comprehensive and nearly instantaneous picture of the state of the atmosphere.

синоптичен

meteorology: obtained simultaneously over a wide area


forcing

en-noun

forcing (countable and uncountable, plural forcings)

orbital / astronomical forcing (effect on climate of slow changes in the tilt of Earth's axis and shape of its orbit)

1991, Alfred George Fischer, Orbital forcing and sedimentary sequences: a special issue:

[…] in improving the transfer function of these proxy data and in modelling the response of the climate system to the astronomical forcing over the last 3 Ma with a particular attention paid to the phase relations between insolation,[…]

1991, Frederik Johan Hilgen, Astronomical Forcing and Geochronological Application of Sedimentary Cycles in the Mediterranean Pliocene-Pleistocene, Faculteit Aardwetenschappen Der Rijksuniversiteit Te Utrecht:

Franz Kuhnert, 18881 2.1 WHY ASTRONOMICAL FORCING? In the 1840s, James Croll assumed that the ice ages were driven by changes in the orbit of the Earth. The astronomical origin was likewise taken as natural by Milutin Milankovitch,[…]

2002 August 26, Richard A. Muller, Gordon J. MacDonald, Ice Ages and Astronomical Causes: Data, Spectral Analysis and Mechanisms, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 19:

The astronomic forcing of climate In the course of its 4.5 billion-year history, Earth's climate has been relatively warm for about 90% of the time. Climate has changed on long time scales in response to the evolution of the Sun and[…]

2006 March 30, Martin Beniston, Climatic Change and Its Impacts: An Overview Focusing on Switzerland, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 53:

[…] the 100,000-yr periodicity observed in climate fluctuations may result from the combined effect of a weak (deterministic) astronomic forcing and background environmental noise in a complex, nonlinear system with internal feedbacks.

2011 June 20, Luca Ridolfi, Paolo D'Odorico, Francesco Laio, Noise-Induced Phenomena in the Environmental Sciences, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 156:

2017, Caroline Louise Prescott, Orbital Forcing and Its Importance in Understanding the Warm Pliocene:

(climatology, countable) The net flux of energy in or out of a system; the net change in an energy balance.

Strahlungsantrieb

climatology: the net flux of energy in or out of a system; the net change in an energy balance


triple point

A further investigation is made of the reasonably-close relationship between some multiple tornado outbreaks in the British Isles and the passage of frontal-system triple points (TPs) using, principally, TORRO records and the hourly British Isles charts archived by the Meterorological Office at Bracknell.

1993, Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts:

...together at the point of occlusion, or triple point, where conditions are favorable for formation of a new cyclone, sometimes called a secondary cyclone.

2002, Joseph M. Moran, Online weather studies, →ISBN, page 232:

The point where occluding starts is the triple point, because there are three air masses involved: that ahead of the occlusion, the warm air aloft, and the air behind the occlusion, or where the cold, warm and occluded fronts meet.

2013, Phil Croucher, Private Helicopter Pilot Studies JAA BW, →ISBN, page 8-34:

(meteorology) The intersection of an occluded front, cold front, and warm front.

Few, however, reach the African continent; some dissipate in the intertropical-front bulge east of southern Africa; others form triple points with the temperate fronts available for recurving anywhere between Australia and the Seychelles-Madagascar-Mascarenes (Reunion-Mauritius-Rodriguez) sector.

1947, Maurice Adolph Garbell, Tropical and Equatorial Meteorology, page 205:

It is concluded that the severe storms formed in close proximity to a "triple point" (TP), at which a synoptic cold front and "insolation-enhanced" warm front intersected.

2006, The International Journal of Meteorology:

(meteorology) The point where two boundaries, such as a dry line, outflow boundary, or cold front, intersect.


shortwave

shortwaves (plural)
short-wave (alternative)

/ˈʃɔːtˌweɪv/

Some doubt is cast on the quality of the shortwave fadeout data during the early part of the period considered.

1973, Richard G. Hendl, Statistical Analysis of Shortwave Fadeout Occurrence for the Years 1955 to 1969:

A concise review is presented for the algorithm that has been tentatively selected to produce simulated net shortwave surface fluxes from measured TOA radiances.

1995, Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document., page 214:

Shortwave radiative fluxes that reach the earth's surface are key factors that influence atmospheric and oceanic circulations as well as surface climate.

1996, 1986 Daily Daylight Cloud Fraction, Shortwave Surface Radiation, and Transmittance for 502 Sites, page 1:

(meteorology) Downward radiation entering the earth's atmosphere that is in the shortwave frequency range.


iso-

From Ancient Greek ἴσος (ísos, “equal”).

isotherm, isochrone

(meteorology, geography) Forms terms for specific kinds of isolines.


trough

PIE word
 *dóru
From Middle English trogh, from Old English troh, trog (“a trough, tub, basin, vessel for containing liquids or other materials”), from Proto-West Germanic *trog, from Proto-Germanic *trugą, *trugaz, from Proto-Indo-European *drukós, enlargement of *dóru (“tree”).
See also West Frisian trôch, Dutch trog, German Trog, Danish trug, Swedish tråg; also Middle Irish drochta (“wooden basin”), Old Armenian տարգալ (targal, “ladle, spoon”). More at tree.

cog

(meteorology) A linear atmospheric depression associated with a weather front.

tàlveg

a linear atmospheric depression associated with a weather front


convergence

en-noun

convergence (countable and uncountable, plural convergences)

From converge + -ence (after Latin convergentia).

(meteorology) A zone where two prevailing wind flows meet and interact, resulting in distinctive weather conditions.


washout

washout (countable and uncountable, plural washouts)

washouts (plural)
wash-out (alternative)

huuhtoutuminen

erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; channel produced by this action

(meteorology) The action whereby falling rainwater cleans particles from the air.


weather forecast

weather forecast (plural weather forecasts)

It may be sunny today, but the weather forecast is predicting rain for tomorrow.

(meteorology) A prediction of future weather, often for a specific locality, in a newspaper or on the radio or television.


weather forecasting

(meteorology) The science of using meteorology to predict future weather.


ridge

ridges (plural)
rig (alternative dialectal)

From Middle English rigge, rygge, (also rig, ryg, rug), from Old English hryċġ (“back, spine, ridge, elevated surface”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrugi, from Proto-Germanic *hrugjaz (“back”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krewk-, *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).
Cognate with Scots rig (“back, spine, ridge”), North Frisian reg (“back”), West Frisian rêch (“back”), Dutch rug (“back, ridge”), German Rücken (“back, ridge”), Swedish rygg (“back, spine, ridge”), Icelandic hryggur (“spine”). Cognate to Albanian kërrus (“to bend one's back”) and kurriz (“back”).

inh

(meteorology) An elongated region of high atmospheric pressure.


shaft

From Middle English schaft, from Old English sċeaft, from Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz. Cognate with Dutch schacht, German German Schaft, Swedish skaft.

(meteorology) A relatively small area of precipitation that an onlook can discern from the dry surrounding area.


cumulonimbus

en-noun

cumulonimbus (plural cumulonimbuses or cumulonimbi)

cumulonimbuses (plural)
cumulonimbi (plural)
cumulo-nimbus (alternative)

From Latin cumulus (“heap”) + nimbus (“cloud”).

The one to the east (which at the moment seemed to be leaping straight out of the heart of a sinister slaty-purple patch of cumulonimbus) drained the Lake of the Hanging Glaciers; that to the west a desolate rock and ice-walled valley which was rimmed by some of the highest summits in the Selkirks.

1921, Lewis R. Freeman, chapter III, in Down the Columbia:

(meteorology) A cloud with a tall structure and flat base, often associated with thunderstorms.


detrain

en-verb

detrain (third-person singular simple present detrains, present participle detraining, simple past and past participle detrained)

detrains (present singular third-person)
detraining (participle present)
detrained (participle past)
detrained (past)

(meteorology) To transfer air from an organized air current to the surrounding atmosphere.


anvil

From Middle English anfilt, anvelt, anfelt, from late Old English anfilt, anfilte, anfealt, from earlier onfilti (“anvil”), from Proto-West Germanic *anafalt (compare Middle Dutch anvilte, Low German Anfilts, Anefilt, Old High German anafalz), compound of *ana (“on”) + *falt (“beaten”) (compare German falzen (“to groove, fold, welt”), Swedish dialectal filta (“to beat”)), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂-t- (“shaken, beaten”) (compare Middle Irish lethar (“leather”), Latin pellō (“to beat, strike”), Ancient Greek πάλλω (pállō, “to toss, brandish”)), enlargement of Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to stir, move”). More at felon.

der

(meteorology) A horizontal-topped mass of cloud, shaped like a blacksmith's anvil, that forms before a thunderstorm.


hygrometer

hygrometers (plural)
hygrometre (alternative)

/haɪˈɡɹɒmɪtə(ɹ)/

From French hygromètre, from hygro- + -meter.

(meteorology) An instrument that measures the humidity of the air or other gases, especially the relative humidity.


psychrometry

en-noun

psychrometry (usually uncountable, plural psychrometries)

From psychro- (prefix meaning ‘cold’) + -metry (suffix forming nouns relating to measures and measurement), modelled after psychrometer.

confix

(meteorology, thermodynamics) Synonym of psychrometrics (“the measurement or study of the physical and thermodynamic properties of the atmosphere and its water vapour”).

psicrometria

synonym of psychrometrics — see also psychrometrics


downgrade

en-verb

downgrade (third-person singular simple present downgrades, present participle downgrading, simple past and past participle downgraded)

downgrades (present singular third-person)
downgrading (participle present)
downgraded (participle past)
downgraded (past)

(meteorology) to reduce the official estimate of a storm's intensity.


blue box

gray-box testing
white box (software engineering)

See also: severe thunderstorm watch

(informal, US, meteorology) A "tornado watch" notification category.


supercell

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-supercell.wav

They watched the supercell that spawned the F5 killer that struck Oklahoma City spit out one tornado after another. In two cases, the researchers believe, the Dopplers captured tornadoes being formed — including the Oklahoma City monster.

1999 May 11, William K. Stevens, “Oklahoma Tornado Offers Hints Of How a Killer Storm Is Born”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The storm system was a supercell, the kind that brew the deadliest tornadoes and most damaging hail in the United States, said Walker Ashley[…]

2023 March 25, Oliver Laughland, “‘My city is gone’: ‘supercell’ tornado annihilates Mississippi town and kills 23”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(meteorology) A severe thunderstorm with updrafts and downdrafts that are in near balance, allowing the storm to maintain itself for several hours. Supercells often produce large hail, powerful downpours, very strong winds and sometimes tornadoes.


convection

en-noun

convection (countable and uncountable, plural convections)

convections (plural)
convexion (alternative)

From Latin convectiōnem, from convectiō (“act of carrying”), from convect-, past participle stem of convehō (“to carry together”), combination of com- and vehō.

(meteorology) The vertical movement of heat and moisture, especially by updrafts and downdrafts in an unstable air mass. The terms convection and thunderstorm are often used interchangeably, although thunderstorms are only one form of convection. Towering cumulus clouds are visible forms of convection.


pilot balloon

(meteorology) A small unmanned balloon whose ascent is followed by a theodolite to obtain data for the computation of the speed and direction of winds in the upper air.


weather balloon

weather balloon (plural weather balloons)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-weather balloon.wav

(meteorology) a balloon that carries meteorological instruments aloft in order to measure, record and return data concerning atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity


incus

(meteorology) an accessory cloud, in the shape of an anvil which forms by spreading at the top of a cumulonimbus.


Ac

(meteorology) Initialism of altocumulus cloud.


F

Abbreviation.
# (Stenoscript) Abbreviation of full or fully.
# (Stenoscript) suffixes -full, -fully.

the F-scale ; an F3 tornado

(US, meteorology) Initialism of Fujita (followed by a number when used in a rating on the Fujita scale and indicating the intensity of a tornado).


TS

TS (countable and uncountable, plural TSs or TSes)

(meteorology) Initialism of tropical storm.


sun shower

sun showers (plural)
sunshower (alternative)

(climatology) A rain shower which occurs while the sun is shining.

jakkals trou met wolf se vrou

rain shower while the sun is shining — see also devil's beating his wife

狐の嫁入り (きつねのよめいり, kitsune no yomeiri, literally “foxes' wedding”)

കുറുക്കന്റെ കല്യാണം (kuṟukkanṟe kalyāṇaṁ, literally “fox's wedding”)

грибно́й дождь m (gribnój doždʹ, literally “mushroom rain”)

слепо́й дождь m (slepój doždʹ, literally “blind rain”)

сліпи́й дощ m (slipýj došč, literally “blind rain”)

ку́рячий дощ m (kúrjačyj došč, literally “chicken rain”)

свиня́чий дощ m (svynjáčyj došč, literally “pig rain”)


ACE

ACE (countable and uncountable, plural ACEs)

human recombinant soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme 2

accumulated cyclone energy
w:accumulated cyclone energy

(meteorology) Initialism of accumulated cyclone energy.


Tail End Charlie

Tail End Charlie (plural Tail End Charlies)

Tail End Charlies (plural)
Tail-End Charlie (alternative)

(meteorology, slang) The southernmost thunderstorm in a band of storms, often subject to the best conditions for strengthening.


precipitation

precipitation (countable and uncountable, plural precipitations)

/pɹɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃən/

From Middle French précipitation, from Latin praecipitātiō, praecipitātiōnem.

South Korea’s Ministry of Environment said in a news release that no major precipitation was observed after the cloud seeding operation.

2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)

(meteorology) Any or all of the forms of water particles, whether liquid or solid, that fall from the upper atmosphere (e.g., rain, hail, snow or sleet). It is a major class of hydrometeor, but it is distinguished from cloud, fog, dew, rime, frost, etc., in that it must fall. It is distinguished from cloud and virga in that it must reach the ground.

neerslag

weather: water falling from the atmosphere

(meteorology) The amount of water precipitated in any form.


absolute humidity

absolute humidity (countable and uncountable, plural absolute humidities)

atmospheric humidity
atmospheric humidity

(meteorology) In a system of moist air, the ratio of the mass of water vapor present to the volume occupied by the mixture, that is, the density of the water vapor component. Absolute humidity is usually expressed in grams of water vapor per cubic meter or, in engineering practice, in grains per cubic foot. Because this measure of atmospheric humidity is not conservative with respect to adiabatic expansion or compression, it is not commonly used by meteorologists. (Also called vapor concentration and vapor density). See relative humidity.

absolutní vlhkost

mass of water vapour in a given volume of air


relative humidity

relative humidity (countable and uncountable, plural relative humidities)

(meteorology) The ratio of the actual amount of water vapor (absolute humidity) present in the air to the saturation point at the same temperature, usually expressed as a percentage.


psychrometer

psychrometers (plural)
psychrometre (alternative)

1982 July, Ray W. Brown, Dale L. Bartos, A Calibration Model for Screen-caged Peltier Thermocouple Psychrometers, United States Department of Agriculture: Forest Service, Research Paper INT-293, page 2,
Gross adjustment of the model using a small number of well controlled calibration measurements would suffice to make the model applicable to any new psychrometer or group of psychrometers.

2007, N. J. Livingston, G. Clarke Topp, 71: Soil Water Potential, M. R. Carter, E. G. Gregorich (editors), Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis, 2nd Edition, Canadian Society of Soil Science, Taylor & Francis (CRC Press), page 976,
Psychrometers have two main components: the porous cup with its contained sensing and reference junctions and the instrument for generating the electrical current and measuring the psychrometer output.

2008, Ross Montgomery, Robert McDowall, Fundamentals of HVAC Control Systems, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Elsevier, page 132,
An aspirated psychrometer combines low cost with the fundamental measurement principle of wet- and dry-bulb readings.

wet-and-dry-bulb hygrometer
wet-and-dry-bulb hygrometer

(meteorology) Any of several instruments used to measure the relative humidity of the atmosphere; especially a wet-and-dry-bulb hygrometer.

psicròmetre

instrument which measures atmospheric humidity

also: Category:English terms prefixed with psychro-


spritz

en-verb

spritz (third-person singular simple present spritzes, present participle spritzing, simple past and past participle spritzed)

spritzes (present singular third-person)
spritzing (participle present)
spritzed (participle past)
spritzed (past)

From Yiddish שפּריץ (shprits, noun) and שפּריצן (shpritsn, verb).

(impersonal, weather) To drizzle, to rain lightly.


scattered

en-adj

scattered (comparative more scattered, superlative most scattered)

more scattered (comparative)
most scattered (superlative)

(meteorology, of clouds) Covering three eighths to four eighths of the sky.

разкъсан

meteorology: covering three eighths to four eighths of sky

Scattered showers.

(meteorology, of precipitation) Affecting 30 percent to 50 percent of a forecast zone.

hajanainen

meteorology: affecting 30% to 50% of area


AMS

American Meteorological Society
w:American Meteorological Society

(US, meteorology) Initialism of American Meteorological Society.


tipping point

First use of the term appears c. 1959 in the New York Times.

It is a scenario climate scientists have feared since first identifying "tipping points" - delicate thresholds where a slight rise in the Earth's temperature can cause a dramatic change in the environment that itself triggers a far greater increase in global temperatures.

2005 August 11, Ian Sample, “Warming hits 'tipping point'”, in The Guardian:

Some researchers worry that rainforests will soon reach a tipping point — a point of no return in which the once-lush forests transition to arid regions.

2021 June 22, Sam Romano, “Rainforests are under siege. Here’s what you should know.”, in CNN:

Climate scientists have detected warning signs of the collapse of the Gulf Stream, one of the planet’s main potential tipping points.

2021 August 5, Damian Carrington, “Climate crisis: Scientists spot warning signs of Gulf Stream collapse”, in The Guardian:

(climatology) An irreversible change in the climate system.


pluviometer

pluviometers (plural)
pluviameter (alternative)

(meteorology) A scientific instrument for measuring the amount of rainfall.


anticyclonic

(meteorology) of, relating to, or consisting of an anticyclone


anticyclone

From anti- + cyclone. Coined by Sir Francis Galton in the 1860s.

(meteorology) a system of winds that spiral out from a centre of high pressure


okta

oktas (plural)
okta (plural)
octa (alternative)

...64% of the low- and 50% of the high-cloud amount differences were within ± 1 okta, although many of these successes (71% in the low-cloud amount) were for cases of totally clear or totally cloudy skies.

1960, American Meteorological Society, Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts, American Meteorological Society, Page 480

‘Fog is traditional for the season and cloud is anticipated at six to seven oktas, sir.’

1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 426:

Mean cloud amount distributions are transformed to normal distributions. The accuracy of the method is indicated by the retrieval of the original distribution with a typical error of 14% in the frequency of each okta of cloud amount.

1985, University of East Anglia, Geo Abstracts, University of East Anglia, Page 29

For example, it has been estimated that a Landsat satellite, which revisits a particular location once every 16 days, will obtain a cloud-free scene of a particular location in Britain only once per year, and a scene with 1 okta of cloud (an okta is one eighth of the sky obscured by cloud) only twice per year.

2001, W.G. Rees, Physical Principles of Remote Sensing - Second Edition, Cambridge University Press, Page 100

(meteorology) One eighth of the total area of the celestial dome; used as a measure of cloudiness (one okta means that one eighth of the sky is obscured, two oktas that one quarter is obscured, and so on).

octa

one eighth of the area of the celestial dome


colloid

From French colloïde, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”) + -oid. Doublet of collage, collagen, and protocol.

doublet

(meteorology) An intimate mixture of two substances, one of which, called the dispersed phase (or colloid), is uniformly distributed in a finely divided state throughout the second substance, called the dispersion medium (or dispersing medium).


squall

→ Polish: szkwał

→ Russian: шквал (škval)

→ Ukrainian: шквал (škval)

From Middle English *squalen and squelen (“to cry, scream, squall”), from Old Norse skvala (“to cry out”), probably ultimately imitative with influence from squeal and bawl.
Cognate with Swedish skvala (“to gush, pour down”), Norwegian skval (“sudden rush of water”). The noun is probably from the verb.

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

(meteorology) A squall line, multicell line, or part of a squall line.


stratosphere

From French stratosphère, a word coined by its discoverer, meteorologist Léon Teisserenc de Bort. See strato- + -sphere.

Variation in height of the stratosphere (isothermal layer).

1909, Scientific Abstracts, A., volume 12, page 208 (heading)

The mesosphere may be described as the earth's intermediate or middle atmosphere, which separates the thermosphere above from the ozonosphere (or stratosphere) below, both of which are responsible for absorption of most of the ultraviolet part of the solar radiation and preventing it from reaching the earth's surface.

2008, Kshudiram Saha, The Earth's Atmosphere: Its Physics and Dynamics, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 102:

The technique would involve spraying large amounts of sulfate particles into the Earth’s lower stratosphere at altitudes as high as 12 miles. The scientists propose delivering the sulfates with specially designed high-altitude aircraft, balloons or large naval-style guns.

2018 November 23, Matthew Robinson, “Dimming the sun: The answer to global warming?”, in CNN:

Even if you’ve run an ironclad household budget and managed your retirement accounts on your own, you’re about to be at a level of wealth in a different stratosphere. It’s time to hire professionals.

2025 March 19, Jessica Roy, “She hit the $1.2 billion jackpot. But the California winner must do this to make it last a lifetime”, in San Francisco Chronicle:

(meteorology) The region of the uppermost atmosphere where temperature increases along with the altitude due to the absorption of solar ultraviolet radiation by ozone. The stratosphere extends from the tropopause (10–15 kilometers) to approximately 50 kilometers, where it is succeeded by the mesosphere.


mesosphere

(meteorology) The layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere.


sultry

en-adj

sultry (comparative sultrier, superlative sultriest)

sultrier (comparative)
sultriest (superlative)
sultrie (alternative)

From sulter (“verb (obsolete), a variant of swelter”) + -y; compare sweltry.

suffix

verb (obsolete), a variant of <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">swelter</i>

Other ſignes of the Hiues fullneſſe and readineſſe to ſwarm are at the Hiue-doore, […] Fourthly, their firſt lying forth in foggy and ſultrie mornings & euenings, & going in again when the aire is cleere.

1623, Charles Butler, “Of the Swarming of Bees, and the Hiuing of Them”, in The Feminine Monarchie: Or The Historie of Bees. Shewing Their Admirable Nature, and Propertes, Their Generation, and Colonies, Their Gouernment, Loyaltie, Art, Industrie, Enemies, Warres, Magnanimitie, &c. Together with the Right Ordering of Them from Time to Time: And the Sweet Profit Arising thereof. Written out of Experience, London: Printed by Iohn Haviland for Roger Iackson, and are to be sold at his shop in Fleetstreet, ouer against the Conduit, →OCLC:

On recollecting myself, I diſcovered that I had almoſt reached the entrance of the lagoon, and determined to venture in, if poſſible, to take a few fiſh, […] I ſoon caught more trout than I had preſent occaſion for, and the air was too hot and ſultry to admit of their being kept for many hours, even though ſalted or barbecued.

1793 January, William Bartram, “Art. II. Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws. Containing an Account of the Soil and Natural Productions of Those Regions; together with Observations on the Manners of the Indians. Embellished with Copper Plates. By William Bartram. Re-printed from the Philadelphia Edition. 8vo. pp. 520. 7s. 6d. boards. Johnson. 1792.”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume X, London: Printed for R[alph] Griffiths; and sold by T[homas] Becket, in Pall Mall, published 1794, →OCLC, page 17:

Here in the sultriest season let him rest, / Fresh is the green beneath those aged trees; / Here winds of gentlest wing will fan his breast, / From heaven itself he may inhale the breeze: […]

1812, Lord Byron, “Canto II”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: Printed for John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, stanza XLIX, page 85:

The detachment of Tancred, fifty spears and their armed retinue, which amounted fully to five hundred men, after having taken a short and hasty refreshment, were in arms and mounted before the sultry hour of noon.

1830 November – 1831 November (date written), Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of My Landlord, Fourth and Last Series. […], volume II (Count Robert of Paris), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Robert Cadell; London: Whittaker and Co., published 1 December 1831 (indicated as 1832), →OCLC, page 305:

The heat had been painfully oppressive all day; and it was now a close and sultry night.

1859 November 26 – 1860 August 25, [William] Wilkie Collins, “The Narrative of Walter Hartwright, of Clement’s Inn, London”, in The Woman in White. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, […], published 1860, →OCLC, part I, section III, page 10, column 1:

The weather of the summer of 1863 was, if we include the above four months, not remarkable; but June and September had exceedingly fine weather, while July and August were very unhealthy, being warmer than usual and much damper—that is, sultry.

1864 January 22, Board of Aldermen of New York City, “Summary of Seven Daily Observations of the Temperature, Moisture, Weight, Direction, and Condition of the Atmosphere, for the Year 1863”, in Annual Report of the City Inspector of the City of New York for the Year Ending December 31, 1863 (Document No. 7), New York, N.Y.: Edmund Jones & Co., printers to the Corporation, No. 26 John Street, →OCLC, page 154:

The storm-center gathered slowly around the peaks; low rumble and bowl of thunder increased in frequence; slowly the light shaded as smoky clouds rolled up; the air grew sultrier, and the exasperating breeze puffed a few times and then failed.

1914 January, Zane Grey, “The Mountain Trail”, in The Light of Western Stars: A Romance, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 225:

The soldiers in charge of the English, puzzled apparently how to secure them, conceived the barbarous idea of diving the whole number into a cell which would have been overcrowded with ten captives during the sultry heat of a Bengal midsummer night. The hundred and forty-six unfortunate prisoners were crushed into the narrow space.

1931, Annie Besant, “Conquest and Tyranny”, in England, India, and Afghanistan: And the Story of Afghanistan or Why the Tory Government Gags the Indian Press: A Plea for the Weak against the Strong, 1st Indian edition, Aydar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, →OCLC, pages 26–27:

The Champions League has brought suffering to City and Guardiola - especially when they lost to Premier League rivals Chelsea in the 2021 final - but all the pain disappeared just before midnight on a sultry night in Istanbul.

2023 June 10, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 1 - 0 Inter Milan”, in BBC Sport:


arcus

Borrowed from Latin arcus. Doublet of arc and arco. Distantly related to arrow.

(meteorology) A low, horizontal cloud typically forming at the leading edge of thunderstorm outflow


atmospheric pressure

en-noun

atmospheric pressure (countable and uncountable, plural atmospheric pressures)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-atmospheric pressure.wav

Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.

2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:

(physics, meteorology) The pressure caused by the weight of the atmosphere above an area.

lugdruk

pressure caused by weight of the atmosphere


diffusion

diffusion (countable and uncountable, plural diffusions)

Borrowed from Latin diffūsiō, from diffundō; can be decomposed as diffuse + -ion.

(physics, weather) Exchange of airborne media between regions in space in an apparently random motion of a small scale.


CRM

CRM (countable and uncountable, plural CRMs)

(meteorology) Initialism of certified reference material.


saturation

saturation (usually uncountable, plural saturations)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-saturation.wav

Etymology tree
Late Latin saturatiobor.
English saturation
Borrowed from Late Latin saturatio, saturationem.

etymon

(meteorology) The state of the atmosphere when it is saturated with water vapour; 100% humidity.


lapse

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-lapse.wav

From Middle French laps, from Latin lāpsus, from lābī (“to slip”). Doublet of lapsus.

(meteorology) A marked decrease in air temperature with increasing altitude because the ground is warmer than the surrounding air.


tropic

en-adj

tropic (comparative more tropic, superlative most tropic)

more tropic (comparative)
most tropic (superlative)
trop. (alternative abbreviation)
tropick (alternative obsolete)
Tropic (alternative)

From Late Latin tropicus (“of or pertaining to the solstice, as a noun, one of the tropics”), from Ancient Greek τροπικός (tropikós, “of or pertaining to a turn or change; or the solstice; or a trope or figure; tropic; tropical; etc.”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “turn; solstice; trope”).

der

Of, or relating to the tropics; tropical.


macroburst

(meteorology) A strong downdraft, of over 2.5 miles in diameter, that can cause damaging winds.


microburst

This resulted in the aircraft’s encounter at low altitude with a microburst-induced, severe wind shear from a rapidly developing thunderstorm located on the final approach course.

1986 August 15, National Transportation Safety Board, “Synopsis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Delta Air Lines, Inc., Lockheed L-1011-385-1, N726DA, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, August 2, 1985, archived from the original on 2021-03-18, page 1:

(meteorology) A strong downdraft, of less than 2.5 miles in diameter, that can cause damaging winds and powerful wind shear.


cyclo-

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-cyclo-.wav


downburst

From down- + burst, coined by American meteorologist Horace R. Byers and Japanese and American meteorologist Tetsuya T. Fujita in November 1975.

coinage

(meteorology) A powerful downward air current, especially one during a thunderstorm, often creating powerful divergent horizontal winds and strong wind shear upon impacting the surface.


isolated

en-adj

isolated (comparative more isolated, superlative most isolated)

more isolated (comparative)
most isolated (superlative)

A rendering into English of French isolé.

(meteorology, of precipitation) Affecting ten to twenty percent of a forecast zone.


jet stream

jet streams (plural)
jetstream (alternative)

(meteorology) any of the high-speed, high-altitude air currents that circle the Earth in a westerly direction


persistence

en-noun

persistence (countable and uncountable, plural persistences)

(meteorology) Continuation of the previous day's weather (particularly temperature and precipitation statistics).


deposition

deposition (countable and uncountable, plural depositions)

From Middle English deposicion, from Old French deposicion (French déposition), from Latin depositio.

calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease

(meteorology) The formation of snow or frost directly from water vapor.


easterly

(meteorology) Any persistent wind from the east (usually applied to broad currents or belts of easterly winds).


pannus

Borrowed from Latin pannus (“cloth”). Doublet of pagne, pan, and pane.

(meteorology) A type of accessory cloud, looking like shreds either attached to, or separated from, the main cloud formation; mainly associated with nimbostratus, cumulus, and cumulonimbus.


occlusion

occlusion (countable and uncountable, plural occlusions)

Borrowed from Late Latin occlūsiō, occlūsiōnis (“occluding, obstruction”), from the Classical Latin occlūdō (“I shut up or close up; I restrain”), from ob + claudō (“I shut or close”).


thundercloud

thunder and lightning
thunder and lightning

(meteorology) A large, dark cloud, usually a cumulonimbus, charged with electricity and producing thunder and lightning; a storm cloud.


pallium

Borrowed from Latin pallium (“a cloak”). Doublet of pall.

(obsolete, meteorology) A sheet of cloud covering the whole sky, especially nimbostratus.


PAR

Philippine Area of Responsibility
w:Philippine Area of Responsibility

(Philippines, meteorology) Acronym of Philippine Area of Responsibility.


stratospheric

en-adj

stratospheric (comparative more stratospheric, superlative most stratospheric)

more stratospheric (comparative)
most stratospheric (superlative)

/ˌstɹætəˈsfɛɹɪk/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-stratospheric.wav

/ˌstɹætəˈsfɛɹɪk/

From stratosphere + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).

suffix

Stratospheric fighting brings a new dimension to warfare, taking it into the realm of the fantastic—like an Orson Wells^([sic – meaning Orson Welles]) drama in which cities are bombed from the stratosphere beyond reach of anti-aircraft fire and barrage balloon and in relative safety from enemy pursuit ships.

1941 December, Don M. Paul, “Modern Men of Mars!”, in Will Lane, editor, Minicam Photography, volume 5, number 4, Cincinnati, Oh.: Automobile Digest Publishing Corp., →OCLC, page 16, column 1:

This new pen operates on the principle of capillary attraction. It writes with greater ease than the smoothest lead pencil; writes on cloth or paper submerged in water or in an airplane at the ceiling of stratospheric air travel without leaking; writes on glossy paper, soft paper, blotting paper, or cloth without spreading.

1945 August, “New Products and Processes”, in Orson D[esaix] Munn, editor, Scientific American, volume 173, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Munn & Co., […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 114, column 3:

During the World War he [Jean Piccard] became professor of organic chemistry at Chicago, but later he changed his field. The famous stratospheric flights of his brother Auguste [Piccard]—they are very similar twins and their voices on the radio indistinguishable—caused him to turn to aeronautics and to take on a professorship in aeronautical engineering at the University of Minnesota.

1965 March 25, Richard Willstätter, “Professorship at Zurich”, in Lilli S[chwenk] Hornig, transl., From My Life: The Memoirs of Richard Willstätter […], New York, N.Y., Amsterdam: W. A. Cummings, →OCLC, page 201:

Halocarbons (which include CFCs [chlorofluorocarbons] and halons) are potent stratospheric ozone depleters as well as greenhouse gases. Concern over their role as a threat to the ozone layer led in September 1987 to "The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer" (or the Montreal Protocol).

1990 December, “Technological Options for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions”, in Daniel A. Lashof, Dennis A. Tirpak, editors, Policy Options for Stabilizing Global Climate: Report to Congress (21P-2003.1), Washington, D.C.: Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation, United States Environmental Protection Agency, →OCLC, page 34, column 2:

The stratospheric temperatures in Saturn's atmosphere are generally lower than those found in Jupiter's, which might be expected from Saturn's increased distance from the Sun. However, the stratospheric temperatures of Uranus and Neptune are noticeably and puzzlingly different.

2009, Patrick G. J. Irwin, “Vertical Structure of Temperature, Composition, and Clouds”, in Philippe Blondel, John Mason, editors, Giant Planets of Our Solar System: Atmospheres, Composition, and Structure (Springer-Praxis Books in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences), 2nd edition, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; Chichester, West Sussex: Praxis Publishing, →ISBN, section 4.1.4 (Temperature/Pressure Profiles of the Outer Planets), page 83:

Because one can alter the entire climate with as little as 10,000 tons of super-efficient stratospheric scatters, an amount that could be lifted in a month by a single heavy lift stratospheric aircraft, there is extraordinary scope to develop new tools to allow more precise alteration of radiative forcing.

2013, David Keith, “Technology and Design”, in A Case for Climate Engineering (A Boston Review Book), Cambridge, Mass., London: The MIT Press, →ISBN, pages 109–110:

(meteorology) Of, relating to, or occurring in the stratosphere (“the region of the uppermost atmosphere”).

stratosférický

of, relating to, or occurring in the stratosphere


snow day

(meteorology) A day on which a fall of snow is observed.


icehouse

(climatology) A cold state in global climate.


velum

Borrowed from Latin vēlum (“a cloth, covering, awning, curtain, veil”). Doublet of veil.

bor

(meteorology) An accessory cloud resembling a veil extending over a large distance; normally associated with cumulus and cumulonimbus.


streamline

stroomlijn

meteorology: line that is tangent to the velocity of flow of the wind

(meteorology) On a weather chart, a line that is tangent to the flow of the wind.


isothermic

(meteorology) Of equal or constant temperature with respect to space, volume, or pressure.

izotermický

of equal or constant temperature with respect to space, volume, or pressure


stratocumulus

(meteorology) A principal low-level cloud type, predominantly stratiform, in the form of a gray and/or whitish layer or patch, which nearly always has dark parts and is nonfibrous.


seclusion

en-noun

seclusion (countable and uncountable, plural seclusions)

From Medieval Latin, from Latin seclusio, from secludere.

warm seclusion

(meteorology) The mature phase of the extratropical cyclone life cycle.


storyline

storylines (plural)
story line (alternative)

From story + line. The climate science usage is defined in the IPCC WG III AR5 report (2014).

(climate science) A narrative description of a given modeling scenario, highlighting its main characteristics and underlying technical and socioeconomic drivers.


rainshadow

(meteorology) Alternative form of rain shadow.


cyclogenesis

(meteorology) The process which leads to the formation of tropical storms, cyclones and hurricanes; typically involves an interaction that leads to vertical wind shear.

cyclogenèse

the process which leads to the formation of tropical storms, cyclones and hurricanes


advection fog

advection fog (countable and uncountable, plural advection fogs)

(physics, meteorology) A type of fog caused by the passage of moist air horizontally over a relatively colder surface and the consequent cooling of that air to below its dew point.


active front

(physics, meteorology) The boundary between two different air masses, or a portion thereof, which produces appreciable cloudiness and precipitation and is usually accompanied by significant shifts in wind direction.


air drainage

(physics, meteorology) The gravity-induced downslope flow of relatively cold air. Winds thus produced are called gravity winds.


airmass

airmasses (plural)
air mass (alternative)

airmass source region
airmass source region

(physics, meteorology) a widespread body of air, the properties of which can be identified as: (a) having been established while that air was situated over a particular region of the Earth's surface (airmass source region) and (b) undergoing specific modifications while in transit away from the source region. An air mass is often defined as a widespread body of air that is approximately homogeneous in its horizontal extent, particularly with reference to temperature and moisture distribution; in addition, the vertical temperature and moisture variations are approximately the same over its horizontal extent.

气团

a body of air with uniform characteristics


airmass source region

airmass source region (plural airmass source regions)

(physics, meteorology) An extensive area of the Earth's surface over which bodies of air frequently remain for a sufficient time to acquire characteristic temperature and moisture properties imparted by that surface. Air so modified becomes identifiable as a distinct air mass. See airmass.


air parcel

(physics, meteorology) An imaginary body of air to which may be assigned any or all of the basic dynamic and thermodynamic properties of atmospheric air. A parcel is large enough to contain a very great number of molecules, but small enough so that the properties assigned to it are approximately uniform within it and so that its motions with respect to the surrounding atmosphere do not induce marked compensatory movements. It cannot be given precise numerical definition, but a cubic foot of air might fit well into most contexts where air parcels are discussed, particularly those related to static stability.

hau takiwā

a small imaginary body of air within an airmass but with slightly different characteristics to that of the surrounding air


altocumulus

(physics, meteorology) A fleecy cloud formation consisting of large whitish or greyish globular cloudlets with shaded portions, often grouped in flocks or rows. (Abbreviated Ac.)


altostratus

(physics, meteorology) A principal medium-level cloud type in the form of a gray or bluish (never white) sheet or layer of striated, fibrous, or uniform appearance.