Glossary
Meteorologist Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential meteorologist terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key meteorologist vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in meteorologist training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- CAPE
- Storm energy measure.
- Climate
- Long-term weather patterns.
- Dew point
- Temperature where air saturates.
- Doppler radar
- Measures wind and precipitation.
- Ensemble
- Many model runs.
- Forecast discussion
- Forecaster’s reasoning.
- Front
- Boundary between air masses.
- Isobar
- Line of equal pressure.
- Jet stream
- Fast upper-level winds.
- Numerical model
- Computer forecast.
- NWS
- National Weather Service.
- Satellite imagery
- Images from space.
- Supercell
- Rotating thunderstorm.
- Warning
- Hazard occurring or imminent.
- Watch
- Conditions favorable.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Meteorologist practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Meteorologist training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.