10 Wild Facts About Weather
Most children understand the basics of weather: when it rains it becomes cloudy; on sunny days the sun shines brightly; a waterspout is like a tornado over water – all important concepts for young learners to grasp.
Have you ever been fascinated by why weather happens the way it does? To gain more insight, here are some interesting facts about weather:
1. The Sun’s Rays Change the Temperature
The sun remains at an equal brightness at all times, yet its interaction with Earth’s atmosphere alters its temperature. Near the equator, sun rays hit at a 90-degree angle which quickly heats it up; further away from it though, energy spread out more widely over larger areas can result in cooler temperatures.
Humidity also affects air temperatures; hot air holds more moisture than cool air. Clouds also play a part in weather patterns by producing precipitation such as rain or snowfall; cumulonimbus clouds have even been linked with thunderstorms and tornadoes!
2. The Sun’s Atmosphere Changes the Weather
Weather records may often seem dull and monotonous, yet occasionally one stands out, like an eye-opener that shocks. Here are 33 crazy weather facts to bring even the jaded among us back into focus:
The Sun heats different parts of the atmosphere at different rates, creating different forms of weather and altering air pressure levels to produce wind.
Fog can form in areas with humid air. If this fog contains pollutants or dust particles, it becomes red in colour and known as “red rain.” Other unusual forms of precipitation include bioluminescent waves, cyclones and fire whirls – these forces also play a part in creating such weather phenomena in space – commonly referred to as space weather.
3. The Sun’s Heat Changes the Weather
The sun is an immense ball of hot gases that provides energy to Earth. As its energy reflects and absorbs back down through space, its reflection and absorption causes changes to weather patterns across our planet.
As the sun’s heat rises, water can evaporate into clouds and form raindrops and snowflakes; with enough evaporation occurring, rain or snowfall may follow. Furthermore, rain can occur when air masses with different temperatures collide to form either a warm front or cold front and lead to rain or snowfall.
Many children think a raindrop looks like a teardrop; in reality they are hamburger bun-shaped droplets up to three millimeters wide that form fat flakes – hence their common moniker “raindrops.” Additionally, the Coriolis effect changes hurricane winds so that hurricanes spin in different ways on either hemisphere. All these facts may help pique your children’s interest in meteorology! To further engage them with local weather data use Tempest Home Weather System which sends accurate wind speed, temperature humidity and air pressure readings straight to smartphones for easy monitoring!
4. The Sun’s Clouds Change the Weather
Clouds are one of the key indicators of weather because they indicate temperature. Clouds also act as precipitation agents – rain or snow fall depending on where it forms in a given location – by cooling airways where vapour exists, condensing into droplets to form clouds.
Un incredible fact about clouds is their remarkable ability to reflect 30-60 percent of sunlight that hits them, giving them their distinctive white appearance. Consisting of dry air particles mixed with liquid water droplets and ice particles – various varieties have their own distinct make-up – they form in all types of weather conditions throughout their existence.
Remind your children that cloudy days don’t automatically mean it will rain; there may be many other contributing factors. To make things clearer for them, utilize a home weather system such as Tempest to monitor real-time outdoor temperature, wind speed and lightning activity.
5. The Sun’s Moisture Changes the Weather
Sun’s rays determine heat and air pressure, while atmospheric water also has a powerful impact. A cloud full of moisture-laden air vapor may appear fluffy but weigh millions of tons; its weight makes them capable of creating stormy conditions like rain or snowfall.
Weather record-setting events may become predictable and monotonous over time, yet something unexpected and astonishing happens that draws our attention and draws it forward again. Sharing crazy meteorology facts with children will pique their interest and teach them something fun about science – you could even use a Tempest Home Weather System that delivers real-time outdoor temperature, wind speed and lightning activity reports directly to their smartphone!
6. The Sun’s Wind Changes the Weather
Sunspots can cause jet streams to change direction, dramatically altering local weather. Wind generated from moving air in the atmosphere affects how clouds form, rainfall falls, and storms form; all factors contributing to an unpredictable atmosphere and changeable climate.
Kids interested in meteorology will likely find it fascinating that South Dakota is the windiest state. Additionally, they might find it captivating that raindrops sometimes appear red – a phenomenon known as “red rain.” This occurs when large quantities of red dust mix in with water droplets in a cloud, according to National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Weather refers to conditions at any one location at any one moment in time, whereas climate is the average over a long period. Weather features conditions like temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed and cloud formation; whereas climate combines these with ocean currents’ movements and gases present in Earth’s atmosphere.
7. The Sun’s Rain Changes the Weather
Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere at any particular time and place, and can include factors like temperature, humidity, precipitation, air pressure and wind speed. Weather also includes how something like wood or rock changes shape or color due to sun, rain and wind (like when unpainted wooden furniture turns grey). Climate refers to average weather conditions over an extended period.
The sun is responsible for most of our weather here on Earth. It heats various parts of the planet, causes air pressure to fluctuate up and down, creates winds by transferring energy between different areas, and can even influence space weather by altering how much solar radiation it emits – all this makes the Sun absolutely essential to human survival; without its warmth there would be no weather at all!
8. The Sun’s Snow Changes the Weather
Weather refers to the state of atmosphere at any one place and time. It consists of many variables, including temperature, moisture, air pressure, wind speed and direction, clouds, as well as minute by minute changes over minutes, hours, days or weeks that range from sunny skies and showers, hot temperatures or cool climates and calm or stormy conditions.
The sun creates various types of weather by heating the atmosphere at different rates. When hot air rises, it pushes colder air beneath it upward, producing winds. Moisture in the air and variations between locations in temperature and water vapor levels also play a part. Together these factors result in numerous types of climate.
Weather patterns differ dramatically around the world and even on other planets. Scientists are still researching this aspect of nature on other worlds in order to better understand how it operates here on Earth. They hope that their observations can provide them with valuable insight.
9. The Sun’s Clouds Change the Weather
Record-setting weather phenomena may seem monotonous at times, but occasionally we come upon an eventful cymbal crash that catches our attention and shakes things up a bit. From astonishing records to odd and fascinating phenomena, these 33 crazy weather facts will delight kids (and adults!) of all ages!
Clouds aren’t simply fluffy white puffs; they actually possess great power. Clouds reflect and scatter sunlight away from Earth’s surface, cooling it in turn; additionally they may contain enough water vapor for precipitation (rain or snow) to occur if left to sit around long enough.
Introduce children to clouds as being variously known as cirrus, cumulus, and nimbostratus – and that the same storm might be known by different names in different regions: for example hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean; cyclone in India or Australia’s Willy Willies in Australia. Also teach them that hurricanes spin differently in each hemisphere due to Coriolis Effect – then get them excited about tracking local weather with Tempest Home Weather System’s smartphone App!
10. The Sound of Thunder Is
Sometimes the drumbeat of record hot, wet and fiery weather phenomena can become monotonous, yet sometimes sharp moments of extreme weather come as a wakeup call that remind us to pay attention.
Thunder is caused by lightning striking, rapidly heating air to temperatures exceeding 30,000 degrees in less than one second, expanding it and sending shockwaves that vibrate eardrums, producing that familiar rumble of thunder.
One of the more interesting weather facts is that thundersnow – an unlikely combination of lightning strikes and cloud moisture levels sufficient to form water droplets – can produce thunder.