KELVIN
– A ratio temperature scale using 0 as the theoretical coldest temperature.
KNOT
– One nautical mile per hour (1.15 mph).
L
LAND BREEZE
– A wind that blows from the land towards a body of water. Also known as an offshore breeze.
LA NIÑA
– The opposite of El Niño, when a major cooling occurs in the equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean which is characterized by shifts in “normal” weather patterns.
LAPSE RATE
The change in temperature with altitude in the atmosphere.
LATENT HEAT
– the heat energy that must be absorbed when a substance changes from solid to liquid and liquid to gas, and which is released when a gas condenses and a liquid solidifies.
LEE TROUGH
– Low pressure which develops just east of the Rocky Mountains or Cascades. Often lee troughs become organized into mature cyclones as they develop eastward.