Storm chasing involves all sorts of jargon or terms when referring to clouds, lightning, atmospheric conditions, thunderstorms and the like. This page will help you understand any terminology used on my website or when discussing storms during conversations!.
STORM GLOSSARY
'THE LANGUAGE OF STORM CHASING'
'THE LANGUAGE OF STORM CHASING'
(Photo copyright 2008 StormscapesDarwin.com)
When I first became interested in storm chasing it was hard enough to understand how the weather works, it was an eye opener to find out that chasers have their own language! It's based on meteorological terms and over the years it has evolved into terminology that is easy to understand once you gain experience chasing and read a bit. Without an understanding of the terms used to describe a thunderstorm situation it can be hazardous. It is something that all storm enthusiasts should learn about and it makes for great arguments when someone who thinks they know it all and talks about storms and you give them what is right answer!
The online glossary ( you didn't think I'd type everything from A to Z did you!) is in-depth and informative and if you're keen, over time you'll be able to pick a staccato lightning strike from a crawler or Pileus cloud from a dry slot! Click on the link and save it as a bookmark so you can refer back to it at any time. It's in alphabetical order for ease of use and has links to key words so you can toggle back and forth between pages.
The key is to observe what you see, determine what it is and apply the terminology to make what you have seen make sense. If you get things confused it just won't make sense!
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/severewx/glossary.php
