Spelling Bee Weather Words |
 Dave Thurlow, Host |
So you think you're a hot-shot speller? Perhaps you can take on antidisestablishmentarianism, but can you spell ombrometer [AHM-BRAH-ME-TER]? How about pluviosity? We'll test you at the end of the show. Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory and this is The Weather Notebook.
Ombrometer and pluviosity are just two of the words that kids across the nation will be tackling this spring as they prepare for the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. The 71st annual contest takes place in Washington, D.C., this May. Right now it's time for the local and regional spelling bees, and the official practice list includes over 100 weather-related terms.
The beginner's words aren't too bad: for instance, we have tornado, whirlwind, blustery, and gale. But there are some tougher wind words that are liable to blow away some contestants. Ever run into a zonda [ZOHN-DAH]? That's Z-O-N-D-A, and it's a hot northwest wind that blows down from the Andes onto the plains of Argentina. Then there's the buran [BOO-RAHN], B-U-R-A-N. It's a violent northeast wind in Russia that brings dust storms in the summer and blizzards in the winter.
As for the words we led off with, ombrometer is just a fancy word for rain gage, and it's spelled O-M-B-R-O-M-E-T-E-R. And if you live someplace where a lot of rain falls in your ombrometer, then you're experiencing pluviosity. That one's spelled P-L-U-V-I-O-S-I-T-Y.
You can find the complete list of practice words by visiting our website at weathernotebook.org. Thanks today to contributing writer Bob Henson. Our show is underwritten by Subaru, the beauty of all wheel drive with major support provided by the National Science Foundation.