Weather Alphabet |
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weather alphabet from Anemometer to Zephyr |
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If
you want to know the time, ask a policeman. If you want to know about
weather, Paul Mooney and Trai Anfield are the folk to ask... so we
did. The result is a complete A to Z of weather-related stuff! |
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K is
for...
Katabatic winds
These are also known as "mountain
breezes" and "drainage winds". They occur on cold nights, with light
winds and clear skies, when the warmth of the earth's surface is
lost to space. This causes a cold layer of air to form near the
ground. If the ground slopes, that air is then cooler than the surrounding
air, and so it sinks down the slope. Thus it lowers temperatures
at the bottom of the hill or valley. Most of our lowest temperatures
are recorded in Lakeland valley bottoms with the "help" of this
phenomenon!
Katafront
This can be a warm or cold front which has warm air descending relative
to cold air. Usually warm air would be expected to rise over the
cooler denser air. Consequently, the cloud formation and rainfall
normally associated with a weather front, is subdued.
Konimeter
This is an instrument which can be used to determine the number
of dust particles in a known volume of air. Condensation is made
to appear on the nucleii so that they can be counted.
Knot
This is one nautical mile per hour. It is a unit of speed which
we often apply to winds in our Inshore Waters forecasts on BBC Radio
Cumbria. For approximate conversions it is handy to know that one
knot is equal 0.5 metres per second, and 6 knots are approximately
equal to 7 miles per hour.
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