The average temperature for a day computed by averaging either the hourly readings or, more commonly, the maximum and minimum temperatures.
DALTON'S LAW
States that the total pressure exerted by a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the gases. Formulated by John Dalton, an English physicist.
DATA BUOYS
Buoys placed throughout the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of
the United States that relay information on air and water temperature, wind speed, air pressure, and wave conditions via radio signals.
DAWN
The first appearance of light in the eastern sky before sunrise. It marks the beginning of morning twilight. The visual display is created by the scattering of light reaching the upper atmosphere prior to the sun's rise to the observer's horizon.
Related term: daybreak
DAY
Considered a basic unit of time as defined by the earth's motion. It represents the time
needed for one complete revolution of the earth about its own axis. Also know as a sidereal day, it is approximately equal to 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.09 seconds.
Considered a rotating cloud of debris or dust that is on the ground or near the ground. The debris cloud appearing beneath a thunderstorm will most likely confirm the presence of a tornado.
DEEPENING
Used in describing the history of a low pressure system or an area of cyclonic circulation, it means a decrease in the central pressure of the system. Although it usually describes the action of a pressure system
on a constant pressure chart, it also
means a surface low is increasing in cyclonic circulation and acquiring more energy. The opposite of filling.
DEGREE
A measure of temperature difference representing a single division on a temperature scale.
A measure of the departure of the mean daily temperature from a given standard. That is one degree day for each degree (Fahrenheit or Celsius) of departure above or below the standard during one day.
Advisory issued when fog reduces visibility to 1/8 mile or less, creating possible hazardous conditions.
DENSITY
The ratio of the mass of a substance to the volume it occupies. In oceanography, it is equivalent to specific gravity and represents the ratio of the weight of a given volume of sea water to that of an equal volume of distilled water at 4.0°C or 39.2°F.
A line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving thunderstorms that moves across a great distance. They are characterized by damaging straight-line winds over hundreds of miles. Spanish for straight.
Dry winds in the Diablo mountain range in central California that can exceed 60 miles per hour. Similar to the Santa Ana winds, they develop as the wind flows from high pressure over Nevada to lower pressure along the central California coast.
DIFFLUENCE
A rate at which wind flow spreads apart along an axis oriented normal to the flow in question. The opposite of confluence.
DIFFRACTION
The result of light waves interfering with other after passing through a narrow aperture, causing them to bend or spread.
Comparatively large contrast in meteorological elements over a relatively small distance or period of time. In oceanography, it is the abrupt change or jump of a variable at a line or surface.
DISTURBANCE
This has several applications. It can apply to a low or cyclone that is small in size and influence. It can also apply to an area that is exhibiting signs of cyclonic development. It may also apply to a stage of tropical cyclone development and is known as a tropical disturbance to distinguish it from other synoptic features.
Wind movement that results in a horizontal net outflow of air from a particular region. Divergence at lower levels is associated with a downward movement of air from aloft. Contrast with convergence.
DOG DAYS
The name given to the very hot summer weather that may persists for four to six weeks between mid-July through early September in the United States. In western Europe, this period may exist from the first week in July to mid-August and is often the period of the greatest frequency of thunder. Named for Sirius, the Dog Star, which lies in conjunction with the sun during this period, it was once believed to intensify the sun's heat during the summer months.
DOLDRUMS
Located between 30 degrees North and 30 degrees South latitudes in the vicinity of the equator, this area typically has calm or light and variable winds. Also a nautical term for the equatorial trough.
Weather radar that measures direction and speed of a moving object, such as drops of precipitation, by determining whether atmospheric motion is horizontally toward or away from the radar. Using the Doppler effect, it measures the velocity of particles. Named for J. Christian Doppler, an Austrian physicist, who in 1842 explained why the whistle of an approaching train had a higher pitch than the same whistle when the train was going away.
A severe localized downdraft from a thunderstorm or shower. This outward burst of cool or colder air creates damaging winds at or near the surface. Sometimes the damage resembles tornadic damage.
Snow particles blown from the ground by the wind to a height of less than six feet.
DRIFTS
Normally used when referring to snow or sand particles are deposited behind obstacles or irregularities of the surface or driven into piles by the wind.
A radiosonde dropped with a parachute from an aircraft rather than lifted by a balloon to measure the atmosphere below.
DROUGHT
Abnormal dry weather for a specific area that is sufficiently prolonged for the lack of water to cause serious hydrological imbalance.
DRY ADIABAT
The line on a Skew T-Log P chart that depicts the lifting of dry air, or air that is unsaturated. As a parcel rises adiabatically, its pressure decreases and its temperature falls due to the expansion of the air parcel. When an air parcel is unsaturated and rises, then the temperature decreases at a rate of 1°C per 100 meters (5.5°F per 1,000 feet).
A thermometer used to measure the ambient temperature. The temperature recorded is considered identical to air temperature. One of the two thermometers that make up a psychrometer.
DRY LINE
The boundary between the dry desert air mass of the Southwest U.S. and the moist air mass from the Gulf of Mexico. It usually lies north-south across the
central and southern High Plains states during spring and summer. The passage of a dry line results in a sharp decrease in humidity, clearing skies, and a wind shift from southeasterly or south to southwesterly or west. Its presence influences severe weather development in the Great Plains.
Small particles of earth or other matter suspended in the air. It is reported as "DU" in an
observation and for wide spread dust on the METAR.
DUST BOWL
The term given to the area of the Great Plains including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico that was most greatly affected during the Great Drought of the 1930's.
A small, rapidly rotating column of wind, made visible by the dust, dirt or debris it picks up. It usually occurs in arid or semi-arid areas and is most likely to develop on clear, dry, hot afternoons in response to surface heating.
A branch of mechanics that deals with forces and their relations to patterns of motion. In
metorology, this relates especially to wind and water patterns.
DocuWeather • PO
Box 2739 Huntington Station, NY 11746 • (800) 524-5330
