Weather and Climate Vocabulary

The changes to water when it evaporates into the air, condenses into clouds, and then precipitates down to Earth.

• atmosphere
• water vapor
• water cycle
• clouds

A large collection of very tiny droplets of water or ice crystals.

• evaporation
• run-off
• clouds
• water cycle

The process that occurs when water changes from a liquid to a gas, caused by heat.

• evaporation
• condensation
• precipitation
• atmosphere

The layer of gases that surround the Earth.

• water vapor
• atmosphere
• condensation
• water cycle

Water in the form of an invisible gas.

• atmosphere
• clouds
• water cycle
• water vapor

Rainfall that is not absorbed by soil and travels to lakes, streams, and oceans.

• evaporation
• condensation
• precipitation
• run-off

The cooling of water in the atmosphere changing gas to a liquid.

• evaporation
• condensation
• precipitation
• run-off

Water droplets fall from the atmosphere in the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

• evaporation
• condensation
• precipitation
• run-off

A colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that constitutes about one-fourth of the volume of the atmosphere and is necessary for life.

• nitrogen
• oxygen
• carbon dioxide
• water vapor

The state of the air and atmosphere at a particular time and place;  temperature and other outside conditions such as rain, cloudiness, etc.

• atmosphere
• carbon dioxide
• weather
• water vapor