Radiational cooling - The cooling of the earth's surface that occurs at night when the absorbed heat from the sun that occurred during the day radiates back up to space in the form of infrared radiation. Radiational cooling is maximized during clear nights when there are light winds.

Cirrocumulus clouds - These high clouds are noted by small rounded white puffs composed of ice crystals. When the sky is covered by these clouds the sky can look like the scales of a fish, and is called a mackerel sky. These clouds are common during the cold season, and often indicate fair but chilly weather conditions.

Pluie - This is the french word for rain. To say, "it is raining today" one would say, "Il pleut aujourd'hui."

Microscale - Microscale meteorology is the study of small and/or short-lived atmospheric phenomenon. This study of small-scale weather systems includes tornadoes, rainbows, and thunderstorm updrafts and downdrafts.

Stratosphere - The atmospheric shell above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. This layer of the atmosphere starts at around 8 miles above the surface and extends to around 30 miles above the earth. 19% of the atmospheric gases on earth are found here. The earth's ozone layer is located in this layer of the atmosphere.

Roll Cloud - Also known as a shelf cloud. This cloud formation is seen when a solid line of thunderstorms approaches. These low hanging clouds cover the entire horizon and are seen as a cylindrically shaped and elongated cloud. They occur along the gust front of a line of storms as one can expect winds to increase noticeably as these clouds head through.

NCEP - NCEP stands for National Center for Environmental Prediction. This is a branch of the National Weather Service located in College Park, MD. NCEP is responsible for developing, running, and maintaining the main American computer models.