weather anomaly
Unusual atmospheric event
A weather anomaly is a deviation from typical or expected weather patterns for a given time and place.
Meteorologists measure anomalies against long-term averages—a temperature anomaly of +5°C means conditions are five degrees warmer than the historical norm.
The term appears frequently in climate discussions: The heat wave represented a significant weather anomaly for the region.
Anomalies can be positive or negative, brief or prolonged.
- climatePrevailing atmospheric conditions
- climate changePlanetary atmospheric transformation
- freakAbnormal deviation from typical
- stormSevere atmospheric disturbance
- bomb cycloneRapidly intensifying low-pressure storm
drought · heatwave · blizzard · flood · El Niño · vortex · unseasonable · extreme · temperature · heat dome · phenomenon · disturbance · pattern · record-breaking · record high · bizarre · erratic · cold snap
- weather historyice age, dust bowl, volcanic winter, frost fair, drought
- El Niño effectswarm water, ocean warming, trade winds, drought, flooding
weather anomalysettled weather
weather, anomaly, weathers, weathered, weathering, anomalies, anomalous, anomalously