Deposition - The process where water turns directly from vapor to ice, without first becoming liquid. A common instance of deposition is when frost forms on the grass during cold mornings.

Sub-vortices - Small areas of intense rotation located within a type of tornado called a multi-vortex tornado. These spinning whirls can be thought of as individual tornadoes that are mixed within the main tornado. These are also sometimes referred to as suction vortices and the winds within them can be 100 mph stronger than the main body of the tornado. These can explain why the damage path in a tornado can vary greatly.

St. Elmo's fire - A bright electric discharge that is projected from objects when they are in a strong electric field, such as occurs during a thunderstorm. This discharge can cause a ship's mast or airplane wings to have a greenish or bluish glow.

Climate - The average weather conditions for a specific location during a year or for many years. This can be thought of as the prevailing weather conditions that occur for a certain location in general, or over a long period of time.

Thermosphere - The atmospheric shell extending from the top of the mesosphere to outer space. It is a region of more or less steadily increasing temperature with height, starting at around 50 miles above the surface. This layer is around 320 miles thick and temperatures in this layer can reach 4,500 F. The International Space Station orbits the Earth in this region of the atmosphere!

Bow-Echo - The radar representation of a microburst or downburst, seen as a line of storms morphing from a straight line to an outwardly curved arc. Bow echoes mark the leading edge of damaging straight-line winds which can gust to over 100 mph in some cases.

Freezing Drizzle - A drizzle that falls as a liquid but then freezes into a light glaze or rime upon contact with the cold ground. Freezing drizzle is different than freezing rain because it accumulates at a much slower rate. Freezing drizzle tends to be localized and not widespread, which makes it more difficult to predict.