20 obscure and lesser-known meteorological terms
Here’s a fun collection of obscure and lesser-known meteorological terms. These are the ones that don’t usually pop up in your average weather forecast but have their niche roles in the world of weather nerds (like us).
1. Virga
Rain that falls from a cloud but evaporates before reaching the ground. It can make the sky look like it has streaky curtains hanging down.
2. Graupel
A soft pellet formed when supercooled water droplets freeze onto snowflakes. Think of it as snow with a puffy jacket on.
3. Katabatic Wind
A gravity-driven wind that rushes down slopes, often from high mountains or glaciers. Antarctica is full of these.
4. Anabatic Wind
The opposite of katabatic. This wind flows upslope during the day as the sun heats the mountain sides.
5. Orographic Lift
Air being forced upwards when it hits a mountain. It often squeezes out the moisture and creates rain or snow.
6. Mammatus Clouds
Pouch-like bulges hanging under a cloud base, usually a thunderstorm anvil. They look ominous, but they don’t mean a tornado is coming.
7. Fallstreak Hole
Also called a “hole-punch cloud.” It’s a circular gap in cloud cover caused by aircraft disturbing supercooled water droplets.
8. Brinicle
An underwater “ice finger of death.” It forms under sea ice and freezes everything it touches on the ocean floor.
9. Haboob
A huge dust storm, usually from a collapsing thunderstorm. Common in deserts like Arizona and the Sahara.
10. Capping Inversion
A warm layer of air aloft that suppresses thunderstorms from forming, like putting a lid on a boiling pot.
11. Isallobar
A line on a map showing areas with equal pressure change over a time period. Handy for spotting strengthening storms.
12. Hyetograph
A graph that plots rainfall amount against time. Not thrilling, but if you love data, it’s catnip.
13. Nimbostratus
A thick, dull grey cloud that brings steady rain or snow. Not dramatic, just relentless.
14. Mesocyclone
A rotating updraft inside a thunderstorm, often the breeding ground for tornadoes. Spot this, and things might get serious.
15. Cryoseism
Also called a frost quake. It happens when frozen ground suddenly cracks due to rapid temperature changes.
16. Trowal
Short for “trough of warm air aloft.” It’s a feature in occluded fronts where warm air gets lifted above cooler air.
17. Rime
A white icy deposit from supercooled fog or cloud droplets freezing onto surfaces. It makes trees look like they’ve grown whiskers.
18. Zonal Flow
When the jet stream moves more or less west to east. It tends to bring stable, less extreme weather.
19. Meridional Flow
When the jet stream loops north and south. This brings all the drama—heatwaves, cold snaps, and storms.
20. Tsukimawari
A Japanese term meaning “moon-turning,” which describes a specific wind shift that follows the moon’s path. Very poetic, and rarely used outside Japan.
Some of these are rare. Some are hyper-local. Others are just not fashionable in general weather banter. But all have their place if you’re digging deep into the guts of meteorology.
Ever seen virga in real life? It’s strange watching rain fall without a drop hitting the ground.
Have you got a favourite weather oddity?
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