Glossary

NOAA Weather Advisories

A statement provides additional or followup information to an existing weather condition

An advisory is for less serious conditions that still can cause significant inconvenience and could lead to conditions that might threaten life and/or property

A watch is used when the risk of a hazardous weather event has increased substantially, but its occurrence, location, and/or timing is still uncertain. The intention is to provide folks with advance notice of possible bad conditions.

A warning is used to inform folks of immediate threats to life and/or property. You should always take immediate action.

Weather Instruments

An Anemometer is used to measure the wind speed and direction. Here speed is measured in miles per hour and direction either in degrees or compass points

A Barometer is used to measure atmospheric pressure. Air is not weightless. We measure pressure in inches of mercury.

A Hygrometer is used to measure humidity. Humidity is always relative and expressed as a percentage of the amount of water vapor that the atmosphere can contain at a given temperature.

A Rain Gauge is used to measure the amount of rain in inches.

AThermometer measures temperature. We measure in degrees Fahrenheit. To convert to degrees celsius, subtract 32 and multiply the result given by 9/5.

Weather Terms

Aphel or Aphelion is that point on the orbit of the earth that is farthest from the sun. This is the opposite of perihelion.

Apogee is that point in an orbit at which the orbiting object is farthest from the attracting object.

Cloud Height indicates the approximate height of cumulus clods based on a formula which involves temperature and dew point.

Dew Point is the temperature at which 100% saturation of the air with moisture will occur. At this temperature, precipitation forms in some form - most commonly rain in the summer and snow in the winter. How much water is that? Go here to see.

Heat Index is like the opposite of windchill. You feel hot based not only on temperature, but also on the amount of humidity in the atmosphere. Heat index was developed in 1979 by physiological studies of evaporative skin cooling. This pdf explains all about it.

METAR is an abreviation of METerological Aerodrome Report. Used by all airports it is a standard code used in the US for weather reporting. It includes wind, visibility, runway visual range, present weather, sky condition, temperature, dew point as well as an altimeter setting. For more information, click here.

A mesomap is a combination of "mesonet" and "map". It is a network of weather obvervation stations which gather meterological data. You can see ours here.

Perigee is that point on an orbiting object that it is nearest to the attracting body.

Perihelion is that point on the orbit of the earth that is closes to the sun. This is the opposite of aphelion.

Windchill> temperature is what the temperature feels like when it is cold out and windspeed is combined with temperature. Check herefor a chart and further description.

You can find a most complete glossary here.

Very Cold!

The oldest temperature recorded here since Larry has owned the place was -46° Fahrenheit back in January of 1974.