Welcome to Weather Wiz Kids®!
I’m meteorologist Crystal Wicker. I designed Weather Wiz Kids® especially for children to allow them to learn more about the fascinating world of weather. It’s a comprehensive website answering common weather and natural disaster questions. I hope you learn to love weather as much as I do!
Meteorology is the science dealing with the atmosphere and its phenomena, including both weather and climate.
How do winter storms form?
Just like any other storm at other times of the year, the right combination of ingredients is necessary for a winter storm to develop. Three basic ingredients are necessary to make a winter storm: cold air, lift and moisture.
- Cold air. Below freezing temperatures in the clouds and near the ground are necessary to make snow and/or ice.
- Lift. Something to raise the moist air to form the clouds and cause precipitation. An example of lift is warm air colliding with cold air and being forced to rise over the cold dome. The boundary between the warm and cold air masses is called a front. Another example of lift is air flowing up a mountainside.
- Moisture. To form clouds and precipitation. Air blowing across a body of water, such as a large lake or the ocean, is an excellent source of moisture.