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Weather Words - Y
-- Y --
Year (sidereal year): The period during which the earth makes one complete revolution around the sun; equal to 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, 10 seconds or 365.2564 days. The calendar year is fixed at 365 days, except 366 days in leap years.
Yellow wind: A strong, cold, dry west wind that blows across the plains of eastern Asia during winter and carries yellow dust picked up from interior deserts.
Yellow Snow:
(1) Snow that has a yellow or golden color due to the presence of pine or cypress pollen in or on it.
(2) Yellow-colored snow patches that have been contaminated by urine (usually from dogs).
Yield: The amount of energy released by a nuclear explosion, usually measured in megatons (one megaton is the energy equivalent of one million tons of dynamite).
Youle, Clint: (1916-1999) Pioneering Chicago television weatherman who was the first to present the weather on a national television news program, "The Camel News Caravan" with John Cameron Swayze in May, 1949. He became known as "Mr. Weatherman" during his 11-year tenure as weathercaster at Chicago's WNBQ-TV (now WMAQ-TV Channel 5).
Young ice: Newly formed, flat ice on a lake, usually two to eight inches thick. Further growth beyond a thickness of eight inches renders it winter ice.
Yuma, Ariz.: The nation's sunniest city. When the sun is above the horizon, it is shining 91 percent of the time at Yuma, the highest percentage of any U.S. location. At Chicago, the comparable value is 52 percent.
Copyright © 2008, WGN-TV
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