Important Concepts in This Chapter

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at any given time and place. Most of the weather that
affects people, agriculture, and ecosystems takes place in the lower layer of the atmosphere.
Familiar aspects of weather include temperature, precipitation, clouds, and wind that people
experience throughout the course of a day. Severe weather conditions include hurricanes,
tornadoes, blizzards, and droughts.
Snow cover refers to the area of land that is covered by snow at any given time.
Climate is the long-term average of the weather in a given place. While the weather can change
in minutes or hours, a change in climate is something that develops over longer periods of
decades to centuries. Climate is defined not only by average temperature and precipitation but
also by the type, frequency, duration, and intensity of weather events such as heat waves, cold
spells, storms, floods, and droughts.
While the concepts of climate and weather are often confused, it is important to understand the
difference. For example, the eastern United States experienced a cold and snowy winter in
2013/2014, but this short-term regional weather phenomenon does not negate the long-term
rise in national and global temperatures, sea level, or other climate indicators. It may be helpful
to think about the difference between weather and climate with an analogy: weather influences
what clothes you wear on a given day, while the climate where you live influences the entire
wardrobe you buy.

Why does weather change ?
1 Weather is what is taking place in the air around Earth. Rain and snow are weather. Sunny, fair days
are a kind of weather, too.
2 Three main things cause our weather to change. Heat, wind, and moisture cause changes in our
weather. Heat comes from the sun. Places near the equator get more heat from the sun than places
near the North and South Poles do. Land heats up quicker than oceans. Oceans hold heat longer,
though, because land cools quicker than oceans do.
3 This uneven heating and cooling of different parts of the Earth causes winds. Winds move clouds
from place to place. Clouds carry moisture that falls as rain or snow. Warm air can carry more moisture
than cooler air can.



How does the weather change ?
There are air masses that move across the surface. Temperatures closer to the poles are colder than temperatures
near the equator. To attempt to balance these temperature differences there are movements of air and water.
These movements produce the ocean currents and jet streams.
The weather you experience will depend on the air mass over the area and the pressure system associated with it.
Air masses that originate from closer to the poles will bring in cold air. Air masses that originate from closer to the
equator will bring in warm air. The boundaries of these air masses are where the fronts are found. Low pressure
systems often develop along these boundaries and contribute to moving air. High and low pressure systems move.
Since they move the weather a place has will change. Low pressure tends to bring in cloudy conditions and
precipitation. High pressure tends to bring in fair weather. A high pressure from the polar regions will bring in cold
air while high pressure from the tropical areas will bring in warm air. Low pressures tend to bring in cooler air,
especially once a cold front moves through. Tropical low pressures do not have fronts thus the air stays mild when
weather gets unsettled.
Below are some other factors that can change the weather:
Wind Direction: The direction the air is moving from will bring its weather with it. For example, air from the ocean
will bring in more humid air. Air from the desert will bring in dry air. Air from the polar regions will bring in colder
air.
Elevation: Weather will be more unsettled when air is flowing from a lower toward a higher elevation. Weather
tends to be more fair when air is flowing from a high toward a lower elevation.
Clouds moving in: Weather tends to be cooler during the day with clouds and warmer at night than it otherwise
would have been.