When the word Storms is used in relation to climatic
controls, we are not talking about tornadoes, hurricanes and the
like. Rather this control deals with the presence of moisture in
the atmosphere, the various means by which moisture is removed
from the atmosphere and the forms the moisture takes.
Meteorologists are very interested in the amount of moisture in
the air not only because the presence of water vapor is an
indicator of the potential for precipitation, but the energy
released as water vapor changes states provides the energy for
storms.
Moisture, or humidity, is a general term we will use to
describe the amount of water vapor in the air. There are a number
of ways to express the amount of humidity in the air -- the most
common being absolute humidity, relative humidity and mixing
ratio. We will take up each of these shortly.
