See also Climate change.
International standards and resources
The World Meteorological Organization(Opens in a new tab/window) is the United Nations’s authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources.
Australian conventions and resources
The Bureau of Meteorology(Opens in a new tab/window) is Australia’s national weather, climate and water agency.
Meteorological terms and phenomena
Use initial capitals for formal names of influences on climate:
El Niño La Niña El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) North Atlantic Oscillation Subtropical Ridge (STR) Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) Southern Annular Mode (SAM) [related to wind] East Coast Low (ECL)
Madden–Julian Oscillation East Australian Current Intertropical Convergence Zone
When referring to El Niño and La Niña, be sure to include the diacritical tilde on the second n.
How to insert the ñ character:
In Windows, use Ctrl+Shift+~, followed by N (after releasing the other 3 keys); use Alt+0241 on the numerical keypad; or insert from the symbol set (special characters). On a Mac, use Option+N, followed by N (after releasing the other 2 keys).
Other weather terms and systems are in lower case:
low-pressure system cold front depression trough
Use lower case when referring to meteorological phenomena:
aurora borealis northern lights aurora australis southern lights meteor shower geomagnetic storm
Latin terms such as ‘aurora borealis’ and ‘aurora australis’ are not italicised.
Clouds
International standards and resources
For a full listing of cloud types and nomenclature, see the World Meteorological Office (WMO) International cloud atlas(Opens in a new tab/window).
Around 100 names can be applied to clouds. Cloud names are formed from Latin words; they are in roman and the first letter is capitalised:
Cumulonimbus
Clouds are named and classified under a 3-tier system of genera, species and varieties. Ten genera are recognised, based on the height above the ground at which they form and their basic appearance (cirrus/cirro – wispy; cumulus/cumulo – heaped up or puffy; nimbus/nimbo – rain bearing; stratus/strato – flat/layered and smooth):
- high – Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus
- middle – Altocumulus, Altostratus, Nimbostratus
- low – Stratocumulus, Stratus, Cumulus, Cumulonimbus.
The genera are subdivived into species, based on shape or internal structure (eg Altocumulus translucidus), and the species into varieties, based on arrangement and transparency of the cloud (eg Altocumulus lenticularis duplicatus).
Winds
Tradewind names and other wind features are written in lower case:
southeasterly tradewinds doldrums
Use initial capitals for the names of local winds:
Fremantle Doctor Southerly Buster Roaring Forties
Storms
Australian conventions and resources
The names of tropical cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons are set by regional bodies of the WMO. In Australia, the list of names(Opens in a new tab/window) is maintained by the Bureau of Meteorology.
Cyclone names are selected alphabetically from the list maintained by the Bureau of Meteorology, and alternate between male and female names. The name for the first cyclone of the year is the next name on the list from the previous year (i.e. the list does not restart from ‘A’ each year). Use initial capitals for cyclone names:
Tropical Cyclone Larry Hurricane Andrew
Refer to a named storm as it, not he or she.
Use lower case when referring to the strength of a storm, and put a nonbreaking space before the number:
a category 1 storm
How to insert a nonbreaking space:
Use Ctrl+Shift+Space (Windows), or Space+Option (Mac).