To determine which statement describes the weather of an area, it's important to understand the difference between "weather" and "climate."
Weather refers to the atmospheric conditions in a specific place at a specific time. This includes short-term changes in the atmosphere, such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, and visibility that occur over minutes to days.
Climate, on the other hand, refers to the long-term average of weather over a significant period (usually 30 years or more). This includes average temperatures, average precipitation, and seasonal patterns.
Now, let's examine each of the given statements:
1. Wind gusts will reach 20 mph tomorrow evening.
- This statement is forecasting a specific atmospheric condition (wind speed) for a specific time (tomorrow evening). This is a short-term event, which is characteristic of weather.
2. The normal amount of precipitation for June is 10 cm.
- This describes a long-term average amount of precipitation for the month of June. Averages over a month or longer period fall under climate.
3. The average temperature from 2000-2010 was 28°C (82°F).
- This describes the average temperature over a ten-year period. Such long-term statistics are a description of the climate.
4. Past history shows that humidity has been about 80% for this time of year.
- This statement provides historical averages of humidity for a specific time of year, which is a characteristic of climate rather than weather.
Given the definitions of weather and climate, the correct statement that describes the weather of an area is:
Wind gusts will reach 20 mph tomorrow evening.
