A severe weather condition characterized by low temperatures and strong winds bearing a great amount of snow, either falling or picked up from the ground.

The effect upon the measurement of rainfall caused by the presence of the rain gauge.

A set of electrical conductors, often on a backplane, that carry data and power signals among the various components of a computer.

An instrument, located at the surface observing station, which is used to record the data presented by a radiosonde aloft.

Same as freezing point.

A hygrometer which uses a transducing element whose electrical properties are a function of atmospheric water vapor content. The humidity strip and carbon-film hygrometer element are examples of such a transducer.

An instrument used for the measurement of the reflecting, power (the albedo) of a surface. A pyranometer adapted for the measurement of radiation reflected from the earth's surface is sometimes employed as an albedometer.

A relatively small-scale, upward moving current of air.

A temperature scale with the ice point at 273 degrees and boiling point of water at 373 degrees. It is intended to approximate the Kelvin temperature scale with sufficient accuracy for many sciences, notably meteorology.

A common type of terrestrial scintillation; shimmering over a hot surface (such as a roadway) on a quiet, cloudless. summer day.

Anemometer which measures wind speed by the speed of rotation of 3 or 4 hemispherical or conical cups, each fixed to the end of a horizontal arm projecting from a vertical axis. See condenser-discharge anemometer, contact anemometer. Compare to bridled-cu ...

Thermometer used for measuring the highest temperature attained during a given interval of time, for example, a day.

A colloquial term in western Australia for a squall, associated with thunder, on the northwest coast in summer.

In folklore, a name for rain.

A combination cup anemometer and pressure-plate anemometer, consisting of an array of cups about a vertical axis of rotation, the free rotation of which is restricted by a suitable spring arrangement.

National Weather Service. Administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The difference between temperature measurements taken at two significant levels above the ground. Temperatures at 10 and 40 meters are commonly used.

A radar term for a single pulse of radio energy.

A rotation anemometer in which the axis of rotation is horizontal. The instrument has either flat vanes (as in the air meter) or helicoidal vanes (as in the propeller anemometer). The relation between wind speed and angular rotation is almost linear.

Instrument for measuring the intensity of radiant energy. Its principle is based on the variation of electrical resistance, with the incoming radiation, of one or both the metallic strips which the instrument comprises.