Weather Facts for Kids

Clouds are named by their height and shape — cirrus clouds are high and wispy, while cumulus clouds are low and fluffy.

People have been trying to predict weather for thousands of years — ancient Babylonians used cloud patterns around 650 BC.

For a snowstorm to officially be called a blizzard, it must have winds of at least 35 mph and low visibility for three hours.

Sun dogs are bright spots that appear on either side of the Sun when sunlight refracts through ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Tropical storms and hurricanes are given human names so they are easier to track and communicate about.

Mawsynram in India is the wettest place on Earth, receiving about 467 inches of rain per year.

The Northern Lights are caused by charged particles from the Sun colliding with gases in Earth's atmosphere.

The heat index combines temperature and humidity to show how hot it actually feels to your body.

Tornado Alley in the central United States gets more tornadoes than anywhere else on Earth.

A derecho is a widespread, long-lasting windstorm with straight-line winds that can exceed 100 mph.