Weather — page 33 of 38

3,760 terms including subtopics (3,094 terms filed directly here)

Subtopics

Climate Change 922 terms
Hurricane Weather 51 terms

Weather terms

Sub-synoptic Low Essentially the same as mesolow.
Subbituminous coal A dull, black coal of rank intermediate between lignite and bituminous coal. See coal.
Sublimation The transition of a substance from the solid phase directly to the vapor phase, or vice versa, without passing through an intermediate liquid phase.
Sublimation of ice The transition of water from solid to gas without passing through the liquid phase.
Subrefraction The bending of the radar beam in the vertical which is less than under standard refractive conditions.
Subsidence Sinking or settlement of the land surface, due to any of several processes. As commonly used, the term relates to the vertical downward movement of…
Subsidence Inversion A temperature inversion that develops aloft as a result of air gradually sinking over a wide area and being warmed by adiabatic compression, usually…
Substation An electrical installation containing power conversion (and sometimes generation) equipment, such as transformers, compensators, and circuit breakers.
Subsurface Storm Flow The lateral motion of water through the upper layers until it enters a stream channel. This usually takes longer to reach stream channels than runoff.
Subtle Heavy Rainfall Signature This heavy rain signature is often difficult to detect on satellite. These warm top thunderstorms are often embedded in a synoptic-scale cyclonic…
Subtropical Cyclone A non-frontal low pressure system that has characteristics of both tropical and extratropical cyclones.
Subtropical Depression A subtropical cyclone in which the maximum 1-minute sustained surface wind is 33 knots (38 mph) or less.
Subtropical Jet (Abbrev. STJ) - this jet stream is usually found between 20° and 30° latitude at altitudes between 12 and 14 km.
Subtropical Storm A subtropical cyclone in which the maximum 1-minute sustained surface wind is 34 knots (39 mph) or more.
Suction Vortex A small but very intense vortex within a tornado circulation. Several suction vortices typically are present in a multiple-vortex tornado.
Sudden Commencement (SC) In solar-terrestrial terms, an abrupt increase or decrease in the northward component of the geomagnetic field, which marks the beginning of a geomagnetic…
Sudden Impulse (SI+ or SI-) In solar-terrestrial terms, a sudden perturbation of several gammas in the northward component of the low-latitude geomagnetic field, not associated with…
Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (SID) In solar-terrestrial terms, HF propagation anomalies due to ionospheric changes resulting from solar flares, proton events and geomagnetic storms.
SUF Sufficient
Sulfate Aerosols Particulate matter that consists of compounds of sulfur formed by the interaction of sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide with other compounds in the…
Sulfur cycle Cyclic movement of sulfur in different chemical forms from the environment, to organisms, and then back to the environment.
Sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) A compound composed of one sulfur and two oxygen molecules. Sulfur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere through natural and anthropogenic processes is…
Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) A colorless gas soluble in alcohol and ether, slightly soluble in water. A very powerful greenhouse gas used primarily in electrical transmission and…
Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF<sub>6</sub>) A colorless gas soluble in alcohol and ether, slightly soluble in water. A very powerful greenhouse gas used primarily in electrical transmission and…
Summation Principle This principle states that the sky cover at any level is equal to the summation of the sky cover of the lowest layer plus the additional sky cover…
Summer Typically the warmest season of the year during which the sun is most nearly overhead.
Summer Solstice The time at which the sun is farthest north in the Northern Hemisphere, on or around June 21.
Sun Dog see Parhelion
Sun Pillar A bright column above or below the sun produced by the reflection of sunlight from ice crystals.
Sun Pointing Alignment of the radar antenna by locating the position of the sun in the sky, which has an exactly known position given the radar's location and the…
sundog A colored luminous spot produced by refraction of light through ice crystals that appears on either side of the sun. Also called parhelion.
Sunny When there are no opaque (not transparent) clouds. Same as Clear.
Sunrise The phenomenon of the sun's daily appearance on the eastern horizon as a result of the earth's rotation.
Sunset The phenomenon of the sun's daily disappearance below the western horizon as a result of the earth's rotation.
Sunspot Dark areas on the Sun created by strong magnetic fields beneath the Sun’s surface.
Sunspot Group Classification A: A small single unipolar sunspot or very small group of spots without penumbra. B: Bipolar sunspot group with no penumbra.
Sunspot Number In solar-terrestrial terms, a daily index of sunspot activity (R), defined as R = k (10 g + s) where S = number of individual spots, g = number of sunspot…
Super Typhoon Typhoon having maximum sustained winds of 130 knots (150 mph) or greater.
Supercell Short reference to Supercell Thunderstorm; potentially the most dangerous of the convective storm types.
Supercell Thunderstorm Potentially the most dangerous of the convective storm types. Storms possessing this structure have been observed to generate the vast majority of…
Supercool To cool a liquid below its freezing point without solidification or crystallization.
Supercooled Liquid Water In the atmosphere, liquid water can survive at temperatures colder than 0 degrees Celsius; many vigorous storms contain large amounts of supercooled…
Superrefraction Bending of the radar beam in the vertical which is greater than sub-standard refractive conditions.
supersaturated air A condition that occurs in the atmosphere when the relative humidity is greater that 100 percent.
Surcharge Capacity The volume of a reservoir between the maximum water surface elevation for which the dam is designed and the crest of an uncontrolled spillway, or the…
Surf Zone Area of water between the high tide level on the beach and the seaward side of the breaking waves.
Surf Zone Forecast (SRF) - A National Weather Service routine or event driven forecast product geared toward non-boating marine users issued for an area extending from the…
surface albedo The fraction of incoming solar radiation at a surface (i.e., land, cloud top) that is effectively reflected by that surface.
surface condition State of the surface, including vegetation, land use, surface type, roughness, and such; often provided in model output.
Surface Energy Budget The energy or heat budget at the earth's surface, considered in terms of the fluxes through a plane at the earth-atmosphere interface.
Surface Impoundment An indented area in the land's surface, such as a pit, pond, or lagoon.
Surface mining Removal of soil, sub-soil, and other strata and then extracting a mineral deposit found fairly close to the earth's surface. See strip mining.
surface moisture flux The vertical flux of surface moisture due to atmospheric turbulent transport.
Surface observation Surface observation A meteorological observation made on the Earth's surface in contrast with an upper-air observation).
Surface Runoff Precipitation, snow melt, or irrigation in excess of what can infiltrate the soil surface and be stored.
surface skin temperature The radiative surface skin temperature, from an infrared thermometer measuring the narrowband radiating temperature of the ground surface in its field of…
surface stress The vertical flux of momentum near the surface as the the ambient flow interacts with the land/water surface.
Surface Water Water on the Earth's surface that is directly exposed to the atmosphere, as distinguished from water in the ground (groundwater).
Surface Weather Chart An analyzed synoptic chart of surface weather observations. A surface chart shows the distribution of sea-level pressure (therefore, the position of…
Surface wind Surface wind Wind blowing near the Earth's surface. It is measured, by convention, at a height of 10 m above ground in an area where the distance between…
Surface-based Convection Convection occurring within a surface-based layer, i.e., a layer in which the lowest portion is based at or very near the earth's surface.
Surge A rapid increase in the depth of flow.
Sustained Overdraft Long-term withdrawal from the aquifer of more water than is being recharged.
Sustained Wind Wind speed determined by averaging observed values over a two-minute period.
Sverdrup a unit of measure of volume transport equal to 106 m3/s, named in honor of the oceanographer Harald Sverdrup.
SVR 1. Severe 2. Abbreviation for Severe Thunderstorm Warning
SVRL Several
SW Stormwind
SWD On a buoy report, Swell Direction is the compass direction from which the swell wave are coming from.
SWE Snow Water Equivalent (the amount of water content in a snowpack or snowfall).
SWEAT Casinos who are upset by players winning or having skill are said to "sweat" out their games. Also, a player who is losing and is worried.
Swell Increase of bulk in soil or rock when excavated.
Swell Direction The direction from which the swells are propagating.
SWH On a buoy report, swell height is the vertical distance (meters) between any swell crest and the succeeding swell wave trough.
SWLY Southwesterly
SWODY1 The Day-1 Convective Outlook, sometimes called the "AC" is a guidance product issued by the Operational Guidance Branch (OGB) unit of the Storm Prediction…
SWODY2 The Day 2 Convective Outlook is very similar to the Day 1 Outlook. It is issued only twice a day, at 08Z and 18Z, and covers the period from 12Z the…
SWP On a buoy report, Swell Period is the time (usually measured in seconds) that it takes successive swell wave crests or troughs pass a fixed point.
SWRN Southwestern
SWS A rare, congenital disorder that affects the brain, skin, and eyes. Abnormal blood vessel growth occurs in the trigeminal nerve in the face and the…
SWWD Southwestward
SX Stability Index
SXN Section
Symmetric Double Eye A concentrated ring of convection that develops outside the eye wall in symmetric, mature hurricanes.
Synchronous Detection Radar processing that retains the received signal amplitude and phase but that removes the intermediate frequency carrier.
SYNOP Synoptic - relating to the general weather pattern over a wide region, such as areas of high and low pressure or frontal boundaries, as opposed to…
Synopsis A broad discussion of the weather pattern expected across any given area, generally confined to the 0-48 hour time frame.
Synoptic analysis Synoptic analysis The study of the synoptic observation data plotted on synoptic charts aimed at analysis of the atmospheric disturbances (for example…
Synoptic chart Synoptic chart A weather chart reflecting the state of the atmosphere over a large area at a given moment.
Synoptic Code Rules and procedures established by the World Meteorological Organization(WMO) for encoding weather observations.
Synoptic hour Synoptic hour Hour (UTC) determined by international agreement at which meteorological observations are made simultaneously throughout the world.
Synoptic meteorology Synoptic meteorology The study and analysis of synoptic weather information (synoptic charts, synoptic weather observations).
Synoptic Scale The spatial scale of the migratory high and low pressure systems of the lower troposphere, with wavelengths of 1000 to 2500 km.
Synoptic Track Weather reconnaissance mission flown to provide vital meteorological information in data sparse ocean areas as a supplement to existing surface, radar…
Synoptic Weather Weather occurring over a wide region on time scales exceeding 12 hours.
Synoptic weather observation Synoptic weather observation A surface weather observation, made at periodic times (usually at 3-hourly and 6-hourly intervals specified by the World…
SYNS Synopsis
Synthetic fertilizer Commercially prepared mixtures of plant nutrients such as nitrates, phosphates, and potassium applied to the soil to restore fertility and increase crop…
Synthetic natural gas (SNG) A manufactured product chemically similar in most respects to natural gas, resulting from the conversion or reforming of petroleum hydrocarbons.
SYS System

Sources

National Weather Service Glossary 3,094 definitions