Meteorological phenomena are natural phenomena that occur in the atmosphere and which, depending on their degree of intensity, can have positive or negative effects on ecosystems and, therefore, on human societies. There is a great diversity of meteorological phenomena but, despite this, many times we would not be able to catalog or identify them beyond the rain, snow or storm. If you want to know what are the most common meteorological phenomena, as well as some of its most striking features, keep reading Green Ecologist and we'll tell you about it.
What are meteorological phenomena
It is often the mistake of considering a Meteorological phenomenon like any type of natural phenomenon that occurs in a given space. However, the key to identifying a meteorological phenomenon is that it is only about a kind of natural phenomenon, and are those that take place in the atmosphere or, to a certain extent, are caused by its activity or inactivity.
In this way, they would be excluded from meteorological phenomena, for example earthquakes which, although it is true that they constitute a type of natural phenomenon, could not be classified as "meteorological" since they do not have any kind of relationship with the activity of the atmosphere.
Types of meteorological phenomena
Within meteorological phenomena we are going to find two main types of phenomena: normal and extreme. The normal weather phenomena They are those that, regardless of the damage they may cause, manifest themselves on a scale and at a time that are considered normal for the meteorological activity of the space where they take place.
On the contrary, when we talk about extreme meteorological phenomena, we are referring to phenomena that manifest themselves in an excessive way and outside of what is considered normal within the way the atmosphere behaves for a specific place and time. From this category of extreme weather events we would find the biggest hurricanes and tornadoes, droughts, floods, or waves of extreme cold or heat.
The most common meteorological phenomena
However, extreme weather events, fortunately, are not the most common in the day-to-day lives of our atmosphere. While it is true that climate change makes these phenomena increasingly common, the truth is that common weather phenomena They are usually of a medium or moderate intensity and, depending on the place and time of year in which they occur, they should not have particularly harmful effects on the environments they affect. These are the most common:
Rain
Rain is the best known meteorological phenomenon of all. It occurs when clouds go from a gaseous state to a liquid state after condensation, which causes the water to precipitate in the form of drops on the earth's surface, and then evaporate again and form clouds.
Electric storm
The electrical storm is a type of natural phenomenon linked to rain, since they tend to manifest together, although this is not always the case. The electrical storm is produced by a specific type of cloud that, in addition to producing rain, generates other phenomena typical of electrical storms such as lightning, thunder and lightning.
Wind
Wind is characterized by the displacement of atmospheric air at specific speeds and directions. Winds can come from any direction and go equally in any direction. In this way, we will talk about winds coming from the north, south, east, west, or any of their combinations.
Fog
Fog is one of the most common atmospheric phenomena in winter. It is characterized by the presence of clouds but, in this case, they are located on the planet's surface, closer to the ground than normal. This means that visibility and temperature drop considerably, because sunlight cannot fully penetrate through the presence of clouds.
Snow
Snow is similar to rain but, in this case, it occurs at temperatures below 0 ºC, which means that the state of the rain is not liquid but solid, producing snowflakes instead of raindrops.
Rainbow
It is a meteorological effect that results from the fragmentation of sunlight as it passes through raindrops suspended in the atmosphere, which has the result that the spectrum of colors of visible light can be seen in an arc at some specific point in the atmosphere. It usually manifests after rain or storm.
Frost
Frosts take place in winter nights due to the sharp drop in temperatures. Despite manifesting as a layer of ice or frost on the surfaces, it does not necessarily imply that rain or other similar meteorological phenomenon has occurred. In this case, the ice comes from the water naturally present in the environment, which freezes at night due to the low temperatures.
Anticyclone
It is a meteorological phenomenon that can sometimes go unnoticed precisely because it is characterized by the absence of meteorological activity but which, after all, is also a way of manifesting that the atmosphere has. In this case, we are talking about the absence of clouds of any kind, which is usually also accompanied by the absence of winds. The result is a clear atmosphere and a temperature that is very cold in winter and very hot in summer, as well as what is commonly called a “sunny day”.
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