Santa Ana Winds: Are downsloping warm dry winds, (Fohen) which occur when there is a large High Pressure System located 
over the Rocky Mountains. With the clock-wise wind circulation produce by the High Pressure, these winds move down the
western slopes of the Rockies and desert areas of the Southwest and move over Southern California producing very warm 
and dry conditions for this region.



Saturation Vapor Pressure:The total amount of moisture the air can hold at a given temperature. Also expressed as: "Saturation Mixing Ratio". 
Same as: Saturation Mixing Ratio:

"Example"  Vapor Pressure            = 10
                                      ----- .50 X 100  = Relative Humidity = 50%
           Saturation Vapor Pressure = 20 
       

SAWARS: Supplemental Aviation Weather Reporting Station.


Scarf Cloud: A cloud which forms around and near the top of a thunderstorm and resembles a scraf.


Scattered Sky Condition:  When the sky cover is 0.1 through 0.5.  


Sea Breeze: Air (Wind) moving from the sea to over land. Begins several hours after sunrise. Reaches max by mid-afternoon and is stronger than a Land Breeze.








 

 


Secondary Air Pollutants: Acid Rain: Smog: Surlur Oxide: Nitorgen Oxide: Carbon Monoxide:
 





"Seconds In Time"



Femtosecond:  One millionth of a nanosecond.


Microsecond:  One millionth of a second.


Millisecond:  One thousandth of a second.


Nanosecond:  One billionth of a second.


Picosecond:  One trillionth of a second.













Sensible Heat:The Transfer of heart from one place to another via: Radiation: Conduction: Convection: Condensation: 
Severe Blizzard Warning:Winds stronger than 45 mph. Visibility near zero. Temperature below 10 degs. F. Dangerously low wind chill temperatures.
Severe Thunderstorm Watch:  Severe thunderstormas are possible.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning: Severe thunderstorms are occurring. 
Severe Thunderstorm Warning:  1 Hour 50 mph winds 3/4 in hail.
Sheet Lightning:  Lightning which occurs inside the clouds.
Shower:  Sudden bursts of precipitation (rain or snow, etc) that change rapidy in intensity & starts and stops. 
Showers:  Sudden bursts of precipitation (rain or snow, etc) that change rapidy in intensity & starts and stops.  
Showery:  Sudden bursts of precipitation (rain or snow, etc) that change rapidy in intensity & starts and stops.  
Sigmet: Acronym for: Significant Meteorological Information: Inflight weather advisory forecast for hazardous weather conditions for all aircraft.


Sir Isaac Newton:Born Jan 4, 1643. Died March 31, 1727. An English physicist/mathematician/astronomer. 


 





"Sky Condition"


1. Clear Or Sunny: 0/10 to 1/10 cloud cover.


2. Fair: Less than 4/10 cloud cover and no weather.


3. Partly Cloudy or Partly Sunny: 3/10 to 6/10 cloud cover.


4. Mostly Cloudy: 7/10 to 8/10 cloud cover.


5. Cloudy Or Overcast: 9/10 to 10/10 cloud cover.








Sky: "Why The Sky Is Blue":Sunlight has all the colors of the rainbow. The  Molecules of gas in the Earth's atmosphere scatter blue light in all directions
more than the other colors, thus allowing the other colors to travel straight through. This makes the sky blue, however, Violet is scattered more than blue, 
but our eyes are more sensitive to blue light so we see the sky as "BLUE".  


Sky: "Why The Sky Is "ORANGE" "YELLOW" "BROWN":Many times we see the sky as  "ORANGE" "YELLOW" "BROWN":  This is called "HAZE" produced
by pollution of either smoke, dust, dirt, CO2. As sunlight passes through the pollution the sunlight is (Diffused) by what-ever
pollution is in the atmosphere changing the color of the sky. "HAZE" pollution may reach at high as 10,000 feet. 


Sky: "Why The Sky Is RED":When the Sun is low on the horizon, 
(Sunrise or Sunset) the Sun's rays pass through more atmosphere to reach the Earth. Blue & Violet rays are blocked out thus the sky is red.







Sky Cover:  The amount of sky that is hidden by clouds or obsurcations.
Slant Visibility: The distance a pilot can see the landing aids (Lights) on the runway.
Sleet: Frozen Rain.


 

 - 



Smog: A mixture of smoke and fog. 
Smoke:  Small particles produced by combustion suspended in the atmosphere.
Snow: Ice crystals which have six points.
 

























Snow Cover Chart.








MORE TEXT TO COME"









"Snow Intensities"
1. Snow: Light:....Visibility greater than 1/2 mile.
2. Snow: Moderate: Visibility greater than 1/4 mile but 1/2 mile or less.   
3. Snow: Heavy:....Visibility  1/4 mile or less.   

"SNOW"
1.  Snow At Christmas. Usually not any for this (Lehigh Valley, Pa.) area.
2.  Snow Board. For measuing new fallen snow. Away from buildings and trees.
3.  Snowburst. Extreme lake effect snow blocking roads.
4.  Lake Effect snow for Western New York. ART/BUF/ROC/SYR/BGM
5.  Lake Effect snow/storms.
6.  Lake Effect storms over the Great Lakes.
7.  Snow Fence. Used to deflect snow.
8.  Snow: Fetch. To pick up moisture.
9.  Snow Grains. Very small, white, opaque grains of ice much like drizzle but are frozen. Dimeter less than 1 mm.
10. Snow: Measueing. Location. Ruler. Measuring stick.
11. Snow Pellets. Soft conicial or sperical white particles of ice with diameters of 1 to 5 mm.
12. Snow Squalls.
13. Snow: Symbols.
14. Snow. Trace. Less than a 1/2 inch (.5) of snow.
15. Snow: Water equivilant. Usually 10 inches of snow to 1 inch of rain. Can be as 
          low as 7 inches to as high as 30 inches of snow.
16. Snow: Contains ice crystals that are usually six sided.


Snow Board: A board for measuring snowfall.
Snow Core Sample: A core sample of the snow cover to measure how much liquid precipitaion is within the core.








Solar Angle: High:"High Solar Angle" when the Sun is directly overhead.
Solar Angle: Low:"Low Solar Angle" when the Sun is low on the horizon.


Solar Halo: A ring around the Sun produced by cirrostratus clouds which consist of ice crystals



Solar Wind:  Is produced by charged ion particles escaping from the Sun.
Solar Wind:  The solar wind moves on average about 400 kilometers per sec/ 250 mps. It takes 2-3 days for the solar particles to reach the Earth.








Source Regions: Regions where an air mass forms. (Example: The Arctic).



Specific Heat Of Water:Specific Heat Of Water is 1.0: Water takes longer to heat and longer to cool than any other substance.
Specific Humidity:The ration of the mass of water vapor (in grams) to the mass (in kilograms) of air containing the water vapor, expressed as grams of water vapor per kilogram of humid air.
The combined mass of dry air plus water vapor.
Speed of Light:186,000 miles per second. 
Speed of Sound:     At sea level the speed of sound is 1092 feet or  761 miles per hour. 
Split Low or High:Low or High pressure systems which are cutoff from the main west to east flow. 
Spring Equinox: Occurs on or about March 21. 
Squal: A sudden gust of wind that increase 15 to 20 knots thats last for a short duration many times with heavy rain or snow.


Squal Line:  A area ahead of a cold front with very active and sometimes violent weather.






Squals: Sudden gusts of wind that increase 15 to 20 knots thats last for a short duration many times with heavy rain or snow.




Stability: Absolute Instability: Adiabatic lapse rate greater than 5 degs. F.,3.0 degs. C. per 1,000 feet.
Stability: Absolute Stability Isothermal: Temperature remaing the same from surface to some point aloft.
Stability: Absolute Stability Inversion:  Temperature warmimg as air ascends.
Stability: Absolute Stability:  Adiabatice lapse remaing at 5 degrees F., 3.0 degs. C.  per 1,000 feet.
Stability: Conditional Stability:  Adiabatic temperature between 5 Deg. F., 3.0 Degs. C. per 1,000 feet.
Stability: Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate: 5 Degs. F., 3 Degs. C. per 1,000 feet.
Stability: Moist Adiabatic Lapse Rate: 3 Degs. F., 1.5 Degs. C. per 1,000 feet.







Stability Index: The stability index is used in determimg the stability of the atmosphere. Is is a good guide as to the stability of the atmosphere: 
It  is a good indicator as to whether air will ascend or not. A negative stability index indicates air will rise . A positive stability index will 
indicate the air will rise slowly or not at all. If the rising air is warmer than the surrounding air it will continue to rise, this will indicate a
negative stability index. The more unstable the parcel of air the more likely it will continue to rise with the possibility of severe weather.
The more stable the air is indicates that the air will rise slowly or not at all.
 


Standard Height of the 925 mb Chart: - - - 2,500 Feet.     925mb = 761 Meters.   On the WX Map plotted as 761 meters.
Standard Height of the 850 mb Chart: - - - 5,000 Feet.     850mb = 1522 meters.  On the WX Map the 1 is omitted. = 522 meters.
Standard Height of the 700 mb Chart: - - - 10,000 Feet.    700mb = 3046 meters.  On the WX Map the first nunmber is ommited. = 046 meters.
Standard Height of the 500 mb Chart: - - - 18,000 Feet.    500mb = 5482 Meters.  On the WX Map the last number is omitted. = 548 meters.
Standard Height of the 300 mb Chart: - - - 30,000 Feet.    300mb = 9137 Meters.  On the WX Map the last number is omitted. = 914 meters.
Standard Height of the 250 mb Chart: - - - 35,000 Feet.    250mb = 10660 Meters. On the WX Map the first & last numbers is omitted. = 066 meters
Standard Height of the 200 mb Chart: - - - 40,000 Feet.    200mb = 12181 Meters. On the WX Map the first & last numbers is omitted. = 218
Standard Height of the 150 mb Chart: - - - 45,000 Feet.    140mb = 13706 Meters. On the WX Map the first & last numbers is omitted. = 371
Standard Height of the 100 mb Chart: - - - 50,000 Feet.    100mb = 15228 Meters. On the WX Map the first & last numbers is omitted. = 528 meters.


Standard Barometric Pressure: Standard Barometric Pressure at sea level is: 1013.2 mb.  29.92 inches of mecury. 14.7 lbs. per sq. inch. at a 
standard temperature of 59 degs. F.
Station Elevation:  The height of the station above sea level.


 


Stationary Front Symbol:  




Station Model:  How a surface weather map is plotted.


Station Pressure:  Atmospheric pressure at the station height.

Stepped Leader:  Streams of electrons which move from a thunderstorm cloud towards the ground in steps of about 
300 feet and produce an ionized path. When the Stepped Leader comes within about 300 feet of the ground it is
met by a charge from the ground to complete the path.
Stratosphere:  Varies with height from over 60,000 feet along the equator to 40- 45,000 feet above the poles.
Storm Surge: An rise of coastal water as a result of winds and storms at sea.
Sublimation: When a solid goes to the vapor stage without entering the liquid stage.
Summer Soltice: Occures on or about June 21st.
Surface Visibility:  Surface visibility determined at a defined location.


 







Sun: Sun: My Article.
Sunrise:  When the sun appears on the eastern horizon.
Surface Visibility:  Surface visibility determined at a defined location.
Sunset:  When the sun disappears below the western horizon. 


 









Sunspot:  Storms on the Sun of electrified gases reach maximum about every 11 years.






SW- Designated letter for light snow showers.
SW Designated letter for moderate snow showers.
SW+ Designated letter for heavy snow showers.
Synoptic Weather Chart: A weather map depiciting the current weather conditions.
Synoptic Weather Systems: Hurricanes: Typhoons: Cyclones: 

















© 1998 - 2013 Charles A. Giannetta




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