Precipitation Flashcard

Front

What is precipitation?

Back

Precipitation is any form of water, liquid or solid, that falls from clouds and reaches the ground, including rain, snow, sleet, and hail.

Front

True or False: Snow remains frozen from the time it leaves the cloud to the moment it hits the ground.

Back

True

Front

What is sleet?

Back

Sleet is a form of precipitation that starts as frozen water droplets, melts through warm air, and then refreezes before hitting the ground.

Front

What is hail?

Back

Hail is a type of precipitation that consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, formed in strong thunderstorms with intense updrafts.

Front

Who are meteorologists?

Back

Meteorologists are scientists who study weather, gather data, and make predictions about atmospheric conditions.

Front

What conditions lead to the formation of precipitation?

Back

Precipitation forms when clouds become saturated with water vapor, and the water condenses into droplets or ice crystals that grow large enough to fall to the ground.

Front

What is the difference between rain and snow?

Back

Rain is liquid precipitation that occurs when temperatures are above freezing, while snow is solid precipitation that occurs when temperatures are below freezing.

Front

What is freezing rain?

Back

Freezing rain occurs when rain falls through a layer of cold air and freezes upon contact with cold surfaces, forming a layer of ice.

Front

What role do updrafts play in the formation of hail?

Back

Updrafts in thunderstorms carry water droplets upward into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere, where they freeze and accumulate layers of ice, forming hail.

Front

What is the water cycle?

Back

The water cycle is the continuous process by which water evaporates from the Earth's surface, condenses in the atmosphere to form clouds, and precipitates back to the surface.