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Wind
Wind is air in motion relative to Earth's surface, driven by uneven heating between the equator and poles and by Earth's rotation, shaping weather and ocean currents.
Wind chill
Wind chill, also called the wind chill factor, is the perceived drop in air temperature on exposed skin caused by wind; it cannot cool objects below the actual air temperature.
Wind direction
Wind direction is the direction from which the wind blows at a given location, measured clockwise from true north, reported in degrees alongside wind speed.
Wind erosion
Wind erosion (aeolian soil erosion) is the detachment and transport of soil by wind via saltation, surface creep, and suspension. It begins above roughly 6 m/s over dry soils, strips fine particles and organic matter, and is controlled by cover, roughness, and windbreaks.
Wind rose
A wind rose is a diagram showing the frequency and strength of the wind from various directions, used in runway design, air-quality modeling, and wind-energy planning.
Wind sea
Wind sea, also written wind waves, is the portion of the ocean wave spectrum generated and directly driven by local wind, unlike swell, which travels from distant storms.
Wind speed
Wind speed, or speed of wind, is the rate at which air moves past a fixed point, measured with an anemometer and driven by the pressure gradient.
Wind wave
A wind wave, or ocean surface wave, is a wave on water generated by local wind blowing across the surface, as distinct from swell, tides, and seiches.
Wind-driven circulation
Wind-driven circulation is the water motion generated when wind stress acts on a lake or sea surface, organizing currents, gyres, and waves, and usually the main flow-generating mechanism in lakes.
Windward and leeward
Windward and leeward are directional terms, originating in sailing, for the sides of an object relative to the wind: windward faces into the wind, and leeward is the sheltered downwind side, where rain shadows form.
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year. It is defined astronomically from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox and meteorologically from December to February in the Northern Hemisphere.
Winter storm
A winter storm, also called a snow storm, is an atmospheric disturbance producing dangerous snow, ice, blowing snow, and wind chills, including snowstorms, blizzards, and ice storms.
Winter Storm Elliott
Winter Storm Elliott was a historic December 2022 winter storm and Arctic outbreak that brought blizzard conditions, record cold, and widespread power outages to the United States and eastern Canada.
Winter storm warning
A winter storm warning is an alert issued by the National Weather Service when a winter storm is producing or forecast to produce heavy snow or significant ice.
Winter weather advisory
A winter weather advisory is a National Weather Service alert for snow, sleet, or freezing rain that warrants caution but falls below winter storm warning criteria.
Wireless Emergency Alerts
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are short emergency messages that US authorities broadcast to mobile phones in a targeted area, administered by FEMA and delivered over commercial mobile networks.
Wisconsinan glaciation
The Wisconsinan glaciation was the most recent major glacial stage of the Pleistocene Epoch in North America, named for Wisconsin, whose Laurentide Ice Sheet advance shaped the Midwest and Northeast landscape.
Witherite
Witherite is a rare barium carbonate mineral, BaCO₃, of the aragonite group, historically mined almost exclusively in northern England as the world's principal source of barium carbonate.
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand is a gold-bearing ridge and sedimentary basin in Gauteng, South Africa, the world's largest gold province and source of nearly 40 percent of all gold ever mined.
WMO climate normals
WMO climate normals are 30-year averages of temperature, precipitation, and other variables that the World Meteorological Organization asks member countries to compute as a standard climate baseline.
Wolframite
Wolframite is an iron-manganese tungstate mineral, (Fe, Mn)WO₄, occurring as a series between ferberite and hübnerite; it is the primary ore of tungsten, mined commercially alongside scheelite.
Wollastonite
Wollastonite, calcium metasilicate (CaSiO3), is a white calcium silicate mineral with needle-like crystals, named for Sir W.H. Wollaston and used in ceramics, plastics, paint, and metallurgy as an asbestos substitute.
Women in oceanography
Women in oceanography is the study of women's participation and barriers in ocean science, where research ships stayed closed to women at major institutions into the 1960s.
Woodford Shale
The Woodford Shale is an Upper Devonian organic-rich marine shale across Oklahoma and west Texas, serving as both a major petroleum source rock and an unconventional reservoir.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a non-profit ocean research organization in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, founded in 1930, operating research ships and the deep-sea submersible Alvin.
Woolsey Fire
The Woolsey Fire, also called the Woolsey wildfire, burned 96,949 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, California, in November 2018, destroying 1,643 structures and killing three civilians.
World Climate Conference
The World Climate Conference is the name of three climate conferences held in Geneva by the World Meteorological Organization in 1979, 1990, and 2009, spanning science and policy.
World Climate Research Programme
The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) is an international scientific program, established in 1980, that coordinates research on Earth system variability and change for the benefit of society.
World Ocean Circulation Experiment
The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), the first project of the World Climate Research Programme, was an international program on ocean circulation and climate, with observations from 1990 to 1998.
World Reference Base for Soil Resources
The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is the international standard soil classification system endorsed by the IUSS, replacing the FAO/UNESCO legend in 1998.