West
- Browse Related Terms: EWD, Kelvin Waves, NAO, North Atlantic Oscillation, Oceanography, Return Flow, Thermocline, Tropical Cyclone, W
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Warm Air Advection - the advection (movement) of warm air into a region.
- Browse Related Terms: Advection fog, CAA, CD, Cold Advection, Foehn Pause, Freezing Spray, Frostbite, Heavy Freezing Spray, Lake Effect Snow, Marine Inversion, Sea Fog, Stable, Stable Boundary Layer, Steam Fog, Thermal High, Thermal Wind, upwelling, WAA
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The region of turbulence immediately to the rear of a solid body caused by the flow of air over or around the body.
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A localized, persistent, often abrupt lowering from a rain-free base. Wall clouds can range from a fraction of a mile up to nearly five miles in diameter, and normally are found on the south or southwest (inflow) side of the thunderstorm. When seen from within several miles, many wall clouds exhibit rapid upward motion and cyclonic rotation.
However, not all wall clouds rotate. Rotating wall clouds usually develop before strong or violent tornadoes, by anywhere from a few minutes up to nearly an hour. Wall clouds should be monitored visually for signs of persistent, sustained rotation and/or rapid vertical motion.
"Wall cloud" also is used occasionally in tropical meteorology to describe the inner cloud wall surrounding the eye of a tropical cyclone, but the proper term for this feature is eyewall.
- Browse Related Terms: Accessory Cloud, ACLD, Anvil Rollover, Arcus, Barber Pole, Chinook Arch, Cloud Layer, Cloud Movement, Collar Cloud, Differential Motion, Drop-size Distribution, Eye Wall, Rain-free Base, Roll Cloud, Scud, Sea Breeze Convergence Zone, TOP, Unstable Air, Wall Cloud
Transport of warm air into an area by horizontal winds. Low-level warm advection sometimes is referred to (erroneously) as overrunning. Although the two terms are not properly interchangeable, both imply the presence of lifting in low levels.
- Browse Related Terms: ALF, Cold Pool, Frontal Inversion, Omega High, OVRN, SHLW, Upper Level Disturbance, Warm Advection
A low pressure area which is warmer at its center than at its periphery. Tropical cyclones exhibit this temperature pattern. Unlike cold core lows, these lows produce much of their cloud cover and precipitation during the nighttime.
- Browse Related Terms: Alberta Clipper, Closed Low, Depression, Doldrums, Extratropical Low, LOPRES, Pre-Frontal Trough, Pressure Couplet, Pressure Gradient Force, Thermal Belt, Thermal Low, trade winds, Trough, Warm Core Low
A transition zone between a mass of warm air and the colder air it is replacing.
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A frontal zone formed when a cold front overtakes a warm front and, finding colder air ahead of the warm front, leaves the ground and rises up and over this denser air. Compare with cold occlusion.
- Browse Related Terms: CFP, Cold Occlusion, FROPA, Katafront, Occluded Front, Occluded Mesocyclone, OCFNT, PSG, Stationary Front, Warm Occlusion, Warm Sector, WFP, Wrapping Gust Front, WRM, WRMFNT
A region of warm surface air between a cold front and a warm front.
- Browse Related Terms: CFP, Cold Occlusion, FROPA, Katafront, Occluded Front, Occluded Mesocyclone, OCFNT, PSG, Stationary Front, Warm Occlusion, Warm Sector, WFP, Wrapping Gust Front, WRM, WRMFNT
A warning is issued when a hazardous weather or hydrologic event is occurring, is imminent, or has a very high probability of occurring. A warning is used for conditions posing a threat to life or property.
- Browse Related Terms: Advisory, ADVY, CEM, Civil Emergency Message, Hurricane Local Statement, River Flood Statement, Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisory, Urban Flooding, Warning
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A strong easterly wind blowing out of the mouths of the canyons of the Wasatch Mountains onto the plains of Utah. Also called canyon wind.
- Browse Related Terms: Channeled High Winds, Chinook, Foehn, Lee, Lee Wave, Leeside Low, Massif, Mountain Wave, Mountain-Plain Wind System, MT, Mtn, MTNS, MTS, RCKY, Wasatch Wind
A watch is used when the risk of a hazardous weather or hydrologic event has increased significantly, but its occurrence, location, and/or timing is still uncertain. It is intended to provide enough lead time so that those who need to set their plans in motion can do so.
- Browse Related Terms: arid, ATTM, CST, Duration of Sunshine, EST, GPS, Hyetograph, Ice Age, Issuance Time, LST, MST, PST, RTVS, Spring Tide, Synoptic Weather, Watch, Wave Period
(or simply "Box") - slang for a Severe Thunderstorm Watch or Tornado Watch issued by the SPC.
- Browse Related Terms: Convective Outlook, Enhanced Wording, LSR, Pulse Severe Thunderstorms, SELS, Severe Thunderstorm Watch, Storm Data, Theta-e Ridge, Tornado Watch, Watch Box, Watch Cancellation, Watch Status Reports
This product will be issued to let the public know when either a Tornado Watch or Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been canceled early. It is issued by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in Norman, Oklahoma. In the text of the statement it will specify the severe weather watch number and the area which the watch covered.
- Browse Related Terms: Convective Outlook, Enhanced Wording, LSR, Pulse Severe Thunderstorms, SELS, Severe Thunderstorm Watch, Storm Data, Theta-e Ridge, Tornado Watch, Watch Box, Watch Cancellation, Watch Status Reports
This product tells the public which counties/parishes are included in the watch. This is done not only by writing them all out, but by using the county FIPS codes in the Header of the product. It is issued by the local National Weather Service Forecast Office (WFO).
- Browse Related Terms: Action Stage, ADDS, BAPSU, County Warning and Forecast Area, County Warning Area, HSA (Hydrologic Service Area), Hydrologic Service Area, National Digital Forecast Database, NCEP, NDFD, NWSO, OH, Post-storm Report, RFC, River Forecast Center, SKYWARN, Watch Redefining Statement, WSFO
This product lets the NWFO know of the status of the current severe weather watch (Tornado or Severe Thunderstorm). During the severe weather watch, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) will issue these reports periodically. These reports will describe, in plain language, the current evaluation of the severe weather situation and whether the watch will expire or be reissued. A status report is not issued if a cancellation or replacement has been issued at least 1 hour prior to the expiration time of the original watch.
- Browse Related Terms: Convective Outlook, Enhanced Wording, LSR, Pulse Severe Thunderstorms, SELS, Severe Thunderstorm Watch, Storm Data, Theta-e Ridge, Tornado Watch, Watch Box, Watch Cancellation, Watch Status Reports
The liquid content of solid precipitation that has accumulated on the ground (snow depth). The accumulation may consist of snow, ice formed by freezing precipitation, freezing liquid precipitation, or ice formed by the refreezing of melted snow.
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The alteration of the constituents of a body of water by man to such a degree that the water loses its value as a natural resource.
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A seasonal volume forecast, generally for a period centered around the time of spring snowmelt (e.g., April-July). The outlooks are in units of acre-feet and represent the expected volume of water to pass by a given point during a snowmelt season. The outlook categories include Most Probable, Reasonable Maximum, and Reasonable Minimum.
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The level below the earth's surface at which the ground becomes saturated with water. The water table is set where hydrostatic pressure equals atmospheric pressure.
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