WATER DROPLETS= Water droplets in cloud are tiny, to light to fall, 1000’s must collide to form a heavy enough drop to fall

DRIZZLE= Fine water droplets, 0.040-0.5mm Diameter

RAIN= Consists of falling water droplets, 0.5-5mm Diameter, larger drops, break into pieces as they fall through the air

FREEZING RAIN=When raindrops are close to freezing, strike a cold object near ground, the drops freeze instantly

SNOW= Water vapor crystalizes on tiny particles of dust/smoke, forms when air/water vapor is below 0 degrees

ICE PELLETS (SLEET)= When snow falls through warm layers of air, partially melts, then falls through layers of air below 0 degrees, results in beads of ice, hard enough to bounce on cold ground

WET SNOW= When dry snow falls through warm air, melting all snow crystals, but are still water droplets on the snow, sticky

PACKED SNOW= Best for igloos

HAIL= frozen raindrops move up and down in active thunderclouds, grow larger each time an updraft raises them through cold water droplets, hailstone has 20 layers of ice

FROST= when air temperature is below freezing, water molecules turn directly into a solid forming frost

WEATHER SYSTEMS= Important to understand weather pattern in N. America

AIR MASS= Large body of air, temperature/moisture is uniform, if air above ground/ocean does not move for a day, the air is influenced by that location

CONTINENTAL POLOR AIR MASS= N. Canada, air mass above ocean is cold/dry
MARITIME TROPICAL AIR MASS= California, air above ocean is warm/moist
CONTINENTAL TROPICAL AIR MASS= Deserts air mass becomes dry/warm, moves to Winnipeg, may bring warm/dry conditions
AIR MASSES BUMPING= Air masses move, eventually bump into each other, zone between air mass is called a front

Cold front= 3 triangles
Warm front= 3 half circles Occluded front= HC, T, HC, T - T: TRIANGLE HC: HALF