Weather Words - K

-- k --

Kamikaze: Meaning "divine wind" in Japanese, so-called after typhoons destroyed two 13th-Century (in 1274 and 1281) invading Mongol fleets so mighty that each would otherwise have successfully invaded Japan.

Katabatic: Referring to winds that flow down slopes that are cooled by radiation, the direction of flow being controlled almost entirely by terrain features. Katabatic winds: The winds resulting from the motion of very cold air which, because its great density is strongly acted upon by gravity, flows off interior highlands of large land masses to lower elevations. Antarctica's katabatic winds, 75+ m.p.h., are the world's strongest.

Kataigidaphobia: The irrational or morbid fear of severe storms. Katrina cough: A chronic, nagging, dry cough that is now (late 2005) afflicting about one-quarter of New Orleans residents who live in areas of the city devastated by flooding. It is triggered by cool, dry weather, dust in the air and especially by airborne mold spores.

Kelsher: In England, a heavy rain.

Keraunology: The scientific study of lightning.

Keraunomedicine: The study of the medical aspects of injuries caused by lightning. Among the few experts in the field is Chicago's Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, who heads the lightning injury research program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Keraunopathy: The pathology of lightning. The scientific study of the effects of lightning on living things, with emphasis on its anatomic and functional effects.

Keraunophobia: (also ceraunophobia) The irrational or morbid fear of lightning or of being struck by lightning.

Khamasseen: A dry, dusty, hot, southeast or south desert wind in the Mideast. Originating over the northern Sahara Desert, such winds migrate across the Mideast, and they are strongest in the spring.

Killing freeze: The occurrence of air temperatures below freezing (32 degrees F) that kills annual vegetation without the formation of frost. Killing freezes occur most often when it is cloudy and windy (conditions that inhibit the formation of frost).

Killing frost: (1) A frost sufficiently severe to delay the beginning of the growing season in the spring or to end it in the autumn.

Killing frost: (2) In the autumn, a frost severe enough to end the growing season. This usually occurs at temperatures below 28 degrees F. Because of diminishing sunlight, many plants shut down regardless of temperature.

Kite: A device consisting of a light framework covered with paper or fabric that hovers in the wind at the end of a long string by virtue of air pressure differences on opposite sides of its surface.

Knickerbocker storm: On January 28, 1922, a 28-inch snowstorm immobilized Washington, D.C. The heavy snow caused the roof of the Knickerbocker Movie Theatre to collapse at 9 p.m., killing 98 people.

Knot: A unit of speed in the nautical system, a knot is one nautical mile per hour. One knot is equal to 1.1508 statute miles per hour (the most commonly used unit of speed in the United States).

Kona: In Hawaii, a stormy, rain-bringing wind from the southwest. It blows a few times a year on the southwest slopes which usually are in the lee of the northeast trade winds. Kona is the Polynesian word meaning "leeward".

Koniology: The scientific study of atmospheric dust and other suspended impurities such as pollen, smoke or germs.

Krakatoa: On August 26, 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa between Sumatra and Java violently exploded. Its massive dust cloud spread around the world, causing global temperatures to drop about 1 degree F in the following few years.

Krummholz: "Crooked wood" in German. The tree line on mountains; the elevation above which trees cannot grow, so named because trees there are distorted and gnarled by wind and harsh weather conditions.

Kugelblitz: Ball lightning, a rare and randomly occurring bright ball of reddish light, about one foot in diameter, that floats through the air, usually near the ground and when thunderstorms are present.

Krypton: An inert gaseous element that is a trace constituent of the atmosphere, amounting to only 0.000114 percent by volume of dry air.

Kyrophobia: The irrational or morbid fear of cold.