ABBREVIATIONS:
ATL: Atlantic
BAMS: Beta and Advection Model (Shallow layer)
BAMM: Beta and Advection Model (Medium layer)
BAMD: Beta and Advection Model (Deep layer)
BOC: Bay Of Campeche
CAPE: Convective Available Potential Energy
CARIB: Caribbean
CATL: Central Atlantic
CLIP: CLImatology and Persistence model
CMC: Canadian Meteorological Center
CIMSS: Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies
CNV: Convection
COC: Center Of Circulation
CONUS: CONtinental United States
CV: Cape Verde
N S E W: Direction of Movement (often used in combinations like WNW)
DR: Dominican Republic
EATL: East Atlantic
EDT: Eastern Daylight Time
ECMWF: European Center for Medium range Weather Forecasting
EST: Eastern Standard Time
EWRC: EyeWall Replacement Cycle
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency
GANT: Greater ANTilles
GFDL: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
GFS: Global Forecast System
GOES: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
GOM: Gulf Of Mexico
HWRF: Hurricane and Weather Research Forecasting
ITCZ: InterTropical Convergence Zone
IR: Infrared Satellite Imagery
KT (Knot): Unit of speed used in navigation (about 1.15 Miles Per Hour)
LBAR: Limited area BARotropic model
LLC: Low Level Circulation
MB: Millibars
MM5: FSU Mesoscale Model
MSLP: Mean Sea Level Pressure
NAM: North American Mesoscale Model
NHC: National Hurricane Center
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOGAPS: Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System
NEXRAD: Next Generation of Radar
NWS: National Weather Service
OBX: Outer Banks (N.C.)
OFCL: Official NHC forecast
POES: Polar Operational Environmental Satellite
POP: Probability Of Precipitation
PR: Puerto Rico
SATL: Satellite
SHIPS: Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme
SLOSH: Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges for Hurricanes
SPC: Storm Prediction Center
SST: Sea Surface Temperature
SWFL: Southwest Florida
TCFP: Tropical Cyclone Formation Probability
TD: Tropical Depression
THCP: Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential
TPC: Tropical Prediction Center
TROF: Meteorological acronym for TROUGH
TS: Tropical Storm
TUTT: Tropical Upper Tropospheric Trof
UKMET: United Kingdom METeorological office
ULL: Upper Level Low
UTC: Universal Time Coordinated (previously GMT, also known as Zulu time)
VI: Virgin Islands
WV: Water Vapor

DEFINITIONS:
Anticyclone: A large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
 
Bermuda High: Alternate term for Azores High – a semi-permanent, subtropical area of high pressure in the North Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast of North America that migrates east and west with varying central pressure. Depending on the season, it has different names. When it is displaced westward, during the Northern Hemispheric summer and fall, the center is located in the western North Atlantic, near Bermuda. In the winter and early spring, it is primarily centered near the Azores in the eastern part of the North Atlantic. Also known as Azores High.
 
Closed Low: A low pressure area with a distinct center of cyclonic circulation which can be completely encircled by one or more isobars or height contour lines. The term usually is used to distinguish a low pressure area aloft from a low-pressure trough. Closed lows aloft typically are partially or completely detached from the main westerly current, and thus move relatively slowly.
 
Continental Shelf: The zone bordering a continent and extending to a depth, usually around 100 FM, from which there is a steep descent toward greater depth.
 
Convection: In meteorology, the term is used specifically to describe vertical transport of heat and moisture in the atmosphere, especially by updrafts and downdrafts in an unstable atmosphere. The terms “convection” and “thunderstorms” often are used interchangeably, although thunderstorms are only one form of convection.
 
El Nino: A warming of the ocean current along the coasts of Peru and Ecuador that is generally associated with dramatic changes in the weather patterns of the region; a major El Nino event generally occurs every 3 to 7 years and is associated with changes in the weather patterns worldwide.
 
Explosive Intensification: A decrease in the minimum sea-level pressure of a tropical cyclone of 2.5 mb/hr for at least 12 hours or 5 mb/hr for at least six hours.
 
Extratropical: A term used in advisories and tropical summaries to indicate that a cyclone has lost its “tropical” characteristics. The term implies both poleward displacement of the cyclone and the conversion of the cyclone’s primary energy source from the release of latent heat of condensation to baroclinic (the temperature contrast between warm and cold air masses) processes. It is important to note that cyclones can become extratropical and still retain winds of hurricane or tropical storm force.
 
Fujita Scale: A scale of tornado intensity in which wind speeds are inferred from an analysis of wind damage…
F0 (weak) 40-72 mph, light damage
F1 (weak) 73-112 mph, moderate damage
F2 (strong) 113-157 mph, considerable damage
F3 (very strong) 158-206 mph, severe damage
F4 (violent) 207-260 mph, devestating damage
F5 (extremely violent) 260-318 mph, incredible damage
 
Fujiwhara Effect: A binary interaction where tropical cyclones within a certain distance (300-750 nm depending on the sizes of the cyclones) of each other begin to rotate about a common midpoint.
 
Gulf Stream: Warm water current extending from the Gulf of Mexico and Florida up the U.S. east coast then east northeast to Iceland and Norway.
 
Heat Index: The Heat Index (HI) or the “Apparent Temperature” is an accurate measure of how hot it really feels when the Relative Humidity (RH) is added to the actual air temperature.
 
Hurricane / Typhoon: A tropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind (using the U.S. 1-minute average) is 64 kt (74 mph or 119 km/hr) or more. The term hurricane is used for Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclones east of the International Dateline to the Greenwich Meridian. The term typhoon is used for Pacific tropical cyclones north of the Equator west of the International Dateline.
 
Intertropical Convergence Zone: The region where the northeasterly and southeasterly trade winds converge, forming an often continuous band of clouds or thunderstorms near the equator.
 
Invest: A weather system for which a tropical cyclone forecast center (NHC, CPHC, or JTWC) is interested in collecting specialized data sets (e.g., microwave imagery) and/or running model guidance. Once a system has been designated as an invest, data collection and processing is initiated on a number of government and academic web sites.
 
Jet Stream: Relatively strong winds concentrated in a narrow stream in the atmosphere, normally referring to horizontal, high-altitude winds. The position and orientation of jet streams vary from day to day. General weather patterns (hot/cold, wet/dry) are related closely to the position, strength and orientation of the jet stream (or jet streams). A jet stream at low levels is known as a low-level jet.
 
La Nina: A periodic cooling of surface ocean waters in the eastern tropical Pacific along with a shift in convection in the western Pacific further west than the climatological average. These conditions affect weather patterns around the world. The preliminary CPC definition of La Nina is a phenomenon in the equatorial Pacific Ocean characterized by a negative sea surface temperature departure from normal.
 
Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO): Tropical rainfall exhibits strong variability on time scales shorter than the seasonal El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). These fluctuations in tropical rainfall often go through an entire cycle in 30-60 days, and are referred to as the Madden-Julian Oscillation or intraseasonal oscillations. The intraseasonal oscillations are a naturally occurring component of our coupled ocean-atmosphere system. They significantly affect the atmospheric circulation throughout the global Tropics and subtropics, and also strongly affect the wintertime jet stream and atmospheric circulation features over the North Pacific and western North America. As a result, they have an important impact on storminess and temperatures over the United States. During the summer these oscillations have a modulating effect on hurricane activity in both the Pacific and Atlantic basins.
 
North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO): A large-scale fluctuation in atmospheric pressure between the subtropical high pressure system located near the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean and the sub-polar low pressure system near Iceland and is quantified in the NAO Index. The surface pressure drives surface winds and wintertime storms from west to east across the North Atlantic affecting climate from New England to western Europe as far eastward as central Siberia and eastern Mediterranean and southward to West Africa.
 
Nor’easter: A strong low pressure system that affects the Mid Atlantic and New England States. It can form over land or over the coastal waters. These winter weather events are notorious for producing heavy snow, rain, and tremendous waves that crash onto Atlantic beaches, often causing beach erosion and structural damage. Wind gusts associated with these storms can exceed hurricane force in intensity. A nor’easter gets its name from the continuously strong northeasterly winds blowing in from the ocean ahead of the storm and over the coastal areas.
 
Rapid Intensification: A decrease in the minimum sea-level pressure of a tropical cyclone of 1.75 mb/hr or 42 mb for 24 hours.
 
Remnant Low: Used for systems no longer having the sufficient convective organization required of a tropical cyclone (e.g., the swirls of stratocumulus in the eastern North Pacific).
 
Saffir-Simpson Scale: This scale was developed in an effort to estimate the possible damage a hurricane’s sustained winds and storm surge could do to a coastal area. The scale of numbers are based on actual conditions at some time during the life of the storm. As the hurricane intensifies or weakens, the scale number is reassessed accordingly…
CAT 1, 980mb, 74 – 95 mph, Minimal
CAT 2, 965 – 979mb, 96 – 110 mph, Moderate
CAT 3, 945 – 964mb, 111 – 130 mph, Extensive
CAT 4, 920 – 944mb, 131 – 155 mph, Extreme
CAT 5, lt 920mb, gt 155 mph, Catastrophic
 
Sea Breeze: A thermally produced wind blowing during the day from a cool ocean surface onto the adjoining warm land, caused by the difference in the rates of heating of the surfaces of the ocean and of the land. A source of convection known as a Sea Breeze Front.
 
Sheet Flow: In hydrologic terms, flow that occurs overland in places where there are no defined channels, the flood water spreads out over a large area at a uniform depth. This also referred to as overland flow.
 
Steering Currents: The prevailing synoptic scale flow which governs the movement of features embedded within it.
 
Storm Surge: An abnormal rise in sea level accompanying a hurricane or other intense storm, and whose height is the difference between the observed level of the sea surface and the level that would have occurred in the absence of the cyclone. Storm surge is usually estimated by subtracting the normal or astronomic high tide from the observed storm tide.
 
Tropical Cyclone: A warm-core non-frontal synoptic-scale cyclone, originating over tropical or subtropical waters, with organized deep convection and a closed surface wind circulation about a well-defined center. Once formed, a tropical cyclone is maintained by the extraction of heat energy from the ocean at high temperature and heat export at the low temperatures of the upper troposphere. In this they differ from extratropical cyclones, which derive their energy from horizontal temperature contrasts in the atmosphere (baroclinic effects).
 
Tropical Depression: A tropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind speed (using the U.S. 1-minute average) is 33 kt (38 mph or 62 km/hr) or less.
 
Tropical Disturbance: A discrete tropical weather system of apparently organized convection — generally 100 to 300 nmi in diameter — originating in the tropics or subtropics, having a nonfrontal migratory character, and maintaining its identity for 24 hours or more. It may or may not be associated with a detectable perturbation of the wind field.
 
Tropical Storm: A tropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind speed (using the U.S. 1-minute average) ranges from 34 kt (39 mph or 63 km/hr) to 63 kt (73 mph or 118 km/hr).
 
Tropical Wave: A trough or cyclonic curvature maximum in the trade-wind easterlies. The wave may reach maximum amplitude in the lower middle troposphere.
 
Vertically Stacked System: A low-pressure system, usually a closed low or cutoff low, which is not tilted with height, i.e., located similarly at all levels of the atmosphere.
 
West African Disturbance Line: A line of convection about 300 miles long, similar to a squall line. It forms over west Africa north of the equator and south of 15 degrees North latitude. It moves faster than an Easterly Wave between 20 and 40 mph. They move off the African coast every 4 to 5 days mainly in the summer. Some reach the American tropics and a few develop into tropical cyclones.
 
Westerlies: The prevailing winds that blow from the west in the mid-latitudes.
 
Wind Shear: The change in the wind’s direction and speed with height. This is a critical factor in determining the intensity of convection that may develop.
 
XTRP: Short for Extrapolation. Dead reckoning plot of a storm if it kept in a straight line, with no other forces acting upon it.