Weather and climate mountain ranges toward prevailing winds, and the ocean current. Weather and climate There is often confusion between weather and climate. Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a particular place over a short period of time, whereas climate refers to the weather pattern, using statistical data, of a place over a long enough period to yield meaningful averages. Meteorology studies weather, while climatology studies climate; both are atmospheric sciences. Climate is an important physical element because it indicates the atmospheric condition of heat, moisture and circulation; it plays a dominant role in shaping vegetation and soil; and it ultimately
Weather window than 72 hours can be defined as weather-limited operations. These operations can be planned independently of statistical data and based only on weather forecasts. For weather-limited operations, critical factors such as forces, movements and acceleration shall be calculated in a rather worse weather condition (design criterion) than the weather in which it is planned to perform the operation (operational criterion). This is due to the unreliability of weather forecasts. The longer the planned operation lasts, the greater the difference between the operational criterion and the design criterion. The relationship between the operational criterion and the design criterion is defined as