Quizfind 26

1. Torrential downpour runoff water in the desert, drains into dry stream channels, called this in the US, and wadis in Arabic-speaking lands, causing flash flooding, as walls of water hurtle downstream.

2. This is usually defined as a snowstorm, with winds in excess of 55 km/hr, and temperatures below -7 degrees C.

3. Day-to-day weather conditions, covering a large area over a long period of time, depending on latitude and altitude.

4. When one of these plates meets an oceanic one, the collision is accompanied by earthquakes, volcanoes, and violently upthrusts mountains.

5. A massive rotating tropical storm, characterised by powerful winds and torrential rain, often 800 km in diameter, with lines of clouds spiralling to a common centre, called an eye.

6. As air reaches its dew point, water vapour in it condenses into tiny droplets that are too small and light to fall, essentially a cloud formed at ground level.

7. When saturated air comes in contact with a freezing cold surface, the water does not condense into dew, but instead freezes directly from its gaseous state into minute crystals of ice.

8. Raindrops that are caught alternately in updrafts and downdrafts, enlarging as they are coated with layers of ice.

9. A storm that occurs when ground temperatures are below freezing, the rain freezes immediately on impact, coating the whole landscape beneath a layer of ice.

10. A positive near the top of a cloud, a negative charge near the base, which is attracted to positively charged ground beneath, and when enough voltage builds up, a two-part stroke of this occurs.

11. The …….Way rotates around its centre, with the stars closer to the hub rotating faster than the ones on the outer edge.

12. The majority of gems are these, but precious ornamental stones such as pearls, coral, amber, and jet are plant and animal products.

13. A large natural satellite, that orbits the Earth.

14. Where two of these plates collide beneath the sea, curved chains of volcanic islands rise from the ocean floor.

15. Animals came to drink the water that collected on top of the pools of viscous asphalt, formed by seepage from petroleum deposits, becoming bogged in these tar …., where many fossils have been found.

16. A falling raindrop that passes through a layer of very cold air and freezes into solid pellets, that bounce when they hit the ground, or freeze on impact, coating everything with a layer of ice.

17. This system is in one of the arms, about 3/5ths of the way from the heart of the pinwheel shaped galaxy, known as the Milky Way.

18. One of these usually follows a drop in air pressure.

19. High temperatures from a streak of lightning, heat up the air along that stroke, expanding the air so violently, that it generates the shock waves we hear as this.

20. This is essentially a vortex of wind, whirling around a core that contains a partial vacuum, the combination of high winds and low atmospheric pressure that makes them so destructive.

21. As air is warmed by the Sun, it expands and rises, forming low pressure areas, then masses of denser, cooler air move in as this, to take its place.