Weather Word Search

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thunder

Thunder is the sound of air exploding; a lightning bolt heats nearby air to five times the sun's surface temperature.

cloud

A fluffy white cumulus cloud can weigh over a million pounds, holding its water as droplets too light to fall.

storm

A single thunderstorm can release more energy than an atomic bomb, drawn from the heat in warm, rising moist air.

lightning

Lightning can strike the same place many times; the Empire State Building is hit dozens of times every year.

hurricane

Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones are all the same storm; the name just changes depending on which ocean it forms in.

blizzard

A storm counts as a blizzard only when strong winds and blowing snow cut visibility for hours, not from snowfall alone.

tornado

Tornadoes spin fastest of any storm on Earth, with winds that can top three hundred miles an hour.

overcast

Overcast skies can keep nights warmer, because a blanket of cloud traps heat that would otherwise escape into space.

rainbow

You can never reach the end of a rainbow; it shifts as you move, since it depends on your viewing angle.

downpour

A sudden downpour can drop more rain in a single hour than some deserts receive across an entire year.

climate

Climate is the long-term average of weather; one cold day proves nothing, just as one warm afternoon does not.

drizzle

Drizzle drops are so small and fall so slowly that they can seem to drift sideways or hang in the air.

season

Seasons happen because Earth is tilted on its axis, not because our distance from the sun changes much.

breeze

Coastal breezes flip direction daily: from sea to land by day, and back toward the water at night.

monsoon

The word monsoon means season; these winds reverse direction twice a year, bringing a dry half and a soaking wet half.

In their words