7. The air around Earth is the atmosphere. The
atmosphere is important because it has oxygen and
also has gases that plants need to live.
Water vapor is in the atmosphere. Clouds form from
water vapor. Rain, snow, and other kinds of
precipitation fall from clouds.
8. Types of Clouds
1. Cirrus Clouds: are the highest clouds. They
look like wisps of hair. Do not produce
precipitation that reaches Earth.
9. 2. Cumulus Clouds: are lower than cirrus
clouds, they look puffy. They can bring strong
storms with rain and hail.
10. 3. Stratus Clouds: are the lowest clouds. They
look like a sheet or a layer of clouds. Usually
brings rain, sleet, or snow.
11. • The weather in a
place depends
on where the
place is.
12. Weather instruments help gather weather data.
• Thermometer: used to find the
temperature. Hot or cold a place is.
• Anemometer: measures wind
speed.
13. Dangerous weather changes are sometimes
called severe weather. They bring heavy
rain, snow, lightning, high winds, and big
temperature changes may also happen.
The kind of weather depends on the
temperature, the speed and direction of
wind, and the precipitation.
14. People use weather instruments to predict
weather. One instrument that is used to predict
weather is a weather satellite. A weather
satellite in space may take pictures of clouds
then sends the pictures to Earth and people use
the pictures to see how clouds move.
15. • bring heavy rain and high winds.
• Hail and lightning happen.
• occur during hot weather
• sometimes have strong winds
16. • is a spinning column of air that
touches the ground.
• happen in some strong
thunderstorms.
• They are very dangerous.
• Precipitation: rain and hail are
possible
• Temperature: generally warm
• Wind: very strong
17. Floods
• happen when a lot of rain falls in a short amount
of time.
• Rivers and ditches can overflow and cause
problems.
• Temperature: usually warm or mild
• Wind: wind speed may change during flooding
18. Drought
• is a time with very dry weather.
• the dryness lasts for a long time.
• Rivers and lakes can begin to dry up.
Temperature: may change during drought
• Wind: windspeed may change during
droughts
19. Blizzards
• happen in the winter when it is cold and
below freezing.
• They bring heavy snow and strong, cold winds.
• Precipitation: snow—mostly heavy
Temperature: below 0°C (32°F)
• Wind: at least 56 kilometers per hour (35
miles per hour)
20. Hurricanes
• are the largest storms on Earth.
• They form over oceans when the water is warm.
• can cause tornadoes and thunderstorms to form.
• Precipitation: rain - mostly heavy
• Temperature: generally warm
• Wind: at least 119 kilometers an hour
(74 miles an hour)
21. Heat Wave
• When the temperature is very hot for a long
time, a heat wave may be happening.
• Heat waves last from a few days to several
weeks. They can be very dangerous.
• Precipitation: rain is possible
• Temperature: generally from 35°C (95°F) to 44°C
(110°F)
and above
• Wind: wind speed may vary during a heat wave
22. Ice storms
• happen in the winter when rain freezes on things.
• The ice can be heavy enough to break power lines
and damage trees. The slippery ice can make walking
or driving difficult.
• Precipitation: precipitation falls as rain, but freezes
when it lands
• Temperature: around 0°C (32°F)
• Wind: wind speed may change during
the storm
