Weather and Meteorology - Glossary

Included in this glossary you'll find terms related to our public forecasting program, weather observations and unique terminology that is of Environment Canada's hurricane centre and ice service products.

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A

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Ablation
Acid Rain
Advection Fog
Advisory
Aged Ridge
Agglomerated Brash
Air Mass
Alert
Anchor Ice
Anticyclone
Anticyclonic
Apogee (lunar)
Arctic Sea Smoke (also called Steam Fog)
Arrangement of the Ice
Atmosphere
Atmospheric Pressure
Aurora Borealis

B

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Backing Wind
Bare Ice
Batture Floes
Beaufort Wind Force Scale
Belt
Bergy Bit
Bergy water
Beset
Bight
Blizzard
Blizzard Warning
Blocky Iceberg
Blowing Dust
Blowing Snow
Blowing Snow Warning
Brash Ice
Building Codes
Bummock

C

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Calving
Cape Verde-type Hurricanes
Chance of Precipitation (COP)
Chinook
Cirrus
Climate
Close Pack/Drift
Cloud
Cloud-to-cloud Lightning
Cloud-to-ground Lightning
Cold Front
Compact Ice
Compacted Ice Edge
Compacting
Concentration
Concentration Boundary
Condensation
Consolidated Ice
Consolidated Ridge
Coriolis Force
Crack
Criteria threshold(s)
Cumulonimbus Clouds
Cumulus Clouds
Cyclone
Cyclonic

D

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Dark Nilas
Deformed Ice
Dew Point (also know as Dewpoint)
Difficult Area
Diffuse Ice Edge
Diverging
Domed Iceberg
Draft
Dried Ice
Drift Ice/Pack Ice
Drifting Snow
Drizzle
Dry Lightning
Drydocked Iceberg
Dust Storm Warning

E

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Easterly Wave
Easy Area
El Niño
Event
Event Time
Extratropical Cyclone
Extratropical Transition (ET)
Eye of the Storm
Eyewall

F

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Fast Ice
Fast Ice Boundary
Fast Ice Edge
Fetch
Finger Rafted Ice
Firn
First-year Ice
Flash Freeze Warning
Flaw
Flaw Lead
Flaw Polynya
Floating Ice
Floe
Floeberg
Flooded Ice
Flurries
Fog
Fog Bank
Forecast
Forms of Ice
Fracture
Fracture Zone
Fracturing
Frazil Ice
Freezing Drizzle
Freezing Drizzle Warning
Freezing Rain
Freezing Rain Warning
Freezing Spray
Freezing Spray Warning
Friendly Ice
Front
Frontal Cyclone
Frost
Frost Smoke

G

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Gale Force Wind
Gale Warning
Geostationary Satellite
Glacier
Glacier Ice
Glacier Tongue
Grease Ice
Grey Ice
Grey-White Ice
Grounded Hummock
Grounded Ice
Growler
Gulf Stream
Gusts

H

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Hail
Hazard
Haze
High
High Water Level
High Water Level Warning
Hillock
Hostile Ice
Humidex
Humidity (also called Relative Humidity)
Hummock
Hummocked Ice
Hummocking
Hurricane
Hurricane Force Wind
Hurricane Force Wind Warning
Hurricane Season
Hurricane Warning
Hurricane Watch

I

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Ice Blink
Ice Boundary
Ice Breccia
Ice Cake
Ice Canopy
Ice Cover
Ice Deformation Processes
Ice Distribution
Ice Edge
Ice Field
Ice Free
Ice Front
Ice Island
Ice Island Fragment
Ice Jam
Ice Keel
Ice Limit
Ice Massif
Ice Motion Processes
Ice Patch
Ice Pellets
Ice Rind
Ice Shelf
Ice Stream
Ice Surface Features
Ice Under Pressure
Ice Wall
Iceberg
Iceberg Limit
Iceberg Tongue
Ice-Bound
Icefoot
Iceport
Intermittent Rain
Isobar
Issue Time

J

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Jammed Brash Barrier
Jet Stream

K

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Killing Frost
Kilopascal
Knot

L

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La Niña
Labrador Current
Lake Ice
Land Breeze
Landfall
Large Ice Field
Large Iceberg
Latent Heat
Lead
Lead time
Leeward
Level Ice
Light Nilas
Light Wind
Lightning
Lightning Flash
Lightning Flash Density
Lightning Strike
Lightning Stroke
Limit of all known Ice
Line Squalls
Low

M

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Maximum Iceberg Limit
Mean Ice Edge
Mean Iceberg Limit
Median Ice Edge
Median Iceberg Limit
Medium First-year Ice
Medium Ice Field
Medium Iceberg
Medium Lake Ice
Mesopause
Mesosphere
Millibar
Minimum Iceberg Limit
Mist
Moderate Wind
Multi-year Ice

N

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Nautical Mile
New Ice
New Lake Ice
New Ridge
Nilas
Nip
Normal
Normal High
Normal Low

O

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Old Ice
Open Drift
Open Water
Openings in the Ice
Other Surface Feature Definitions
Outlook

P

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Pancake Ice
Perigee (Lunar)
Period
Pinnacled Iceberg
Polar Low
Polar-orbiting Satellite
Polynya
Post-Tropical Storm
Precipitation
Predicted Astronomical Tide
Prevailing Winds
Puddle

R

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Radar
Rafted Ice
Rafting
Rain
Rainfall Warning
Ram
Recurring Polynya
Relative Humidity (also called Humidity)
Ridge
Ridge (Ice)
Ridged Ice
Ridged Ice Zone
Ridging
River Ice
Rotten Ice

S

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Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
Sastrugi
Sea Breeze
Sea Fog
Sea Ice
Sea Smoke
Sea State
Second-year Ice
Severe Thunderstorm Watch
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
Shearing
Shoal
Shore Lead
Shore Polynya
Shower
Shuga
Sky and Air Indications
Skylight
Slush
Small Ice Cake
Small Ice Field
Small Iceberg
Smoke
Snow
Snow Grains
Snow Pellets
Snow Squall
Snow Squall Warning
Snowbelt
Snow-Covered Ice
Snowdrift
Snowfall Warning
Special Marine Warning
Special Marine Watch
Special Weather Statement
Spicule
Spiral Rain Bands
Squall
Squall Warning
Squall Watch
Stages of Development of Lake Ice
Stages of Development of Sea Ice
Stages of Melting
Standing Floe
Steam Fog (also called Actic Sea Smoke)
Storm Force Wind
Storm Surge
Storm Surge Warning
Storm Track
Storm Warning
Stranded Ice
Stratopause
Stratosphere
Stratus
Stress
Strip
Strong Wind
Strong Wind Warning
Sublimation
Subtropical Ridge
Subtropical Storm
Suête Winds - Cape Breton Highlands
Supercool
Swell

T

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Tabular Iceberg
Target Lead Time
Temperature
Terms Related to Submarine Navigation
Terms Related to Surface Shipping
Thaw Holes
Thermosphere
Thick First-year Ice
Thick Lake Ice
Thin First-year Ice/White Ice - First Stage
Thin First-year Ice/White Ice - Second Stage
Thin Lake Ice
Thunder
Thunderstorm
Tide
Tide Crack
Tongue
Tornado
Tornado Warning
Tornado Warning (Marine)
Tornado Watch
Tornado Watch (Marine)
Towering Cumulus Clouds
Trade Winds (also called Tropical Easterlies)
Tropical Cyclone
Tropical Cyclone Information Statement
Tropical Depression
Tropical Disturbance
Tropical Easterlies (also called Trade Winds)
Tropical Storm
Tropical Storm Warning
Tropical Storm Watch
Tropical Wave (also called Easterly Wave or African Easterly Wave)
Tropopause
Troposphere
Trough
Tsunami
Turbulence
The vertical motion of the air, at times violent, which can cause the up-and-down movement of a plane.
Typhoon

U

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Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation
Unstable
UTC

V

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Veering Wind
Vertical Wind Shear
Very Close Pack/Drift
Very Large Iceberg
Very Open Drift
Very Thick Lake Ice
Very Weathered Ridge
Virga
Visibility

W

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Warm Front
Warning
Watch
Water Sky
Waterspout
Waterspout Warning
Waterspout Watch
Wave Height
Wave Period
Wavelength
Weather
Weather and Meteorology
Weather Summary
Weathered Ridge
Weathering
Wedged Iceberg
Westerlies
Wind
Wind Chill
Wind Chill Index
Wind Shear
Wind Warning
Windward
Winter Storm Warning
Winter Storm Watch
Wreckhouse Winds

Y

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Young Coastal Ice
Young Ice