Shared Flashcard Set

Details

natural disasters
types of disasters
10
Science
5th Grade
10/15/2006

Additional Science Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Blizzards
Definition
Blizzard - An intense winter storm with winds of 35 m.p.h. or higher with falling and/or blowing snow to reduce visibility below 1/4 mile for at least three hours.
Term
Floods
Definition
Flood - It results from days of heavy rain and/or melting snows, when rivers rise and go over their banks.
Term
Hail
Definition
Hail - A mixture of liquid and frozen precipitation. Hailstones are composed of layers of ice and can become quite large when strong gusts of upward-moving air keep them inside the cloud. As they move around inside the cloud they collide with raindrops, adding layers and growing before they fall to earth.
Term
Hurricanes
Definition
Hurricane - They are intense storms with swirling winds up to 150 miles per hour. Usually around 300 miles across, hurricanes are 1,000-5,000 times larger than tornadoes. Hurricanes are known by different names around the world. In Japan they are Typhoons, while Australians call them Willy-Willys.
Term
Ice Storms
Definition
Ice Storms - They occur when temperatures below a raining cloud are very cold, causing the raindrops to become supercooled (less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit). Freezing rain covers streets, houses, and trees with heavy layers of ice, causing concern for dangerous driving, and damage from the weight of the ice.
Term
Sandstorms
Definition
Sandstorm - A strong wind which carries sand through the air. Usually occurs in desert regions, often among sand dunes.
Term
Sleet
Definition
Sleet - Solid precipitation in the form of ice pellets form when raindrops, originating in warmer air aloft, freeze as they fall through subfreezing air near the surface of the Earth.
Term
Snow
Definition
Snow - Precipitation that is composed of white ice crystals that fall from clouds. Snow may stick together to form snowflakes, which have a hexagonal or six-sided shape.
Term
Thunderstorms
Definition
Thunderstorm - A storm produced by a cumulonimbus cloud and always has lightning and thunder. Rain, hail and high winds may or may not occur.
Term
Tornado
Definition
Tornado - It begins as a funnel cloud with spinning columns of air that drop down from a severe thunderstorm. When they reach the ground they become tornadoes. Tornadoes are between 300 and 2,000 feet wide and travel at speeds of 20 to 45 miles per hour. They usually only last a few minutes, but their spinning winds, up to 300 miles per hour, can lift houses into the air and rip trees from the ground.
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