How Clouds Form

1. Clouds of all kinds form when water vapor in the air becomes tiny water droplets or ice crystals. 2. The process by which molecules of water vapor in the air become liquid water is called condensation. 3. Cold air can hold less water vapor than warm air. As air cools, the amount of water vapor it can hold decreases. Some of the water vapor in the air condenses to form droplets of liquid water. 4. The temperature at which condensation begins is called the dew point. If the dew point is below the freezing point, the water vapor may change directly into ice crystals. 5. For water vapor to condense, tiny particles must be present so the water has a surface on which to condense. Most of these particles are salt crystals, dust from soil, and smoke. Clouds form whenever air is cooled to its dew point and particles are present.

6. When wind strikes the side of a hill or mountain, the air is forced upward. As the air rises along the slope, the air cools. Rain or snow falls on the windward side of the mountains, the side facing the oncoming wind.
7. By the time the air reaches the other side of the mountains, it has lost much of its water vapor. The land on the leeward side of the mountains is in a rain shadow, very little rain falls in a rain shadow. 8. Not only has the air lost its water vapor while crossing the mountains, but the air has also grown warmer while flowing down the mountainside. This warm, dry air often creates a desert on the leeward side of the mountains.

Types of Clouds
1. Meteorologists classify clouds into 3 main types: cumulus, stratus, and cirrus.

2. Clouds are also classified by their altitude.

3. Each type of cloud is associated with a different type of weather. 4. Clouds that look like fluffy, rounded piles of cotton are called cumulus clouds. Cumulus clouds form less than 2 km above the ground, but may grow in size and height until they extend upward as much as 18 km. Cumulus clouds usually indicate fair weather. 5. Towering clouds with flat tops, called cumulonimbus clouds, often produce thunderstorms. The suffix nimbus comes from a Latin word meaning rain. 6. Clouds that form in flat layers are called stratus clouds. Strato means spread out. Stratus clouds usually cover all or most of the sky. As stratus clouds thicken, they may produce drizzle, rain or snow. They are then called nimbostratus clouds.

7. Wispy, feathery clouds are called cirrus clouds. Cirrus clouds form only at high levels, above about 6 km, where temperature are very low. As a result, cirrus clouds are made of ice crystals. 8. Part of a clouds name may be based on its height. The names of clouds that form between about 2 and 6 km above Earths surface have the prefix alto-. The 2 main types of these clouds are altocumulus and altostratus.

Clouds are classified into a system that uses Latin words to describe the appearance of clouds as seen by an observer on the ground. The table below summarizes the four principal components of this classification system (Ahrens, 1994).

Latin Root cumulus stratus cirrus nimbus

Translation heap layer curl of hair rain

Example fair weather/cumulus altostratus cirrus cumulonimbus

Further classification identifies clouds by height of cloud base. For example, cloud names containing the prefix "cirr-", as in cirrus clouds, are located at high levels while cloud names with the prefix "alto-", as in altostratus, are found at middle levels.

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place. Most weather takes place in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere.

Weather is measured and described in a variety of ways by meteorologists, scientists who study and predict weather. Air temperature and pressure, the amount and type of precipitation, the strength and direction of wind, and the types of clouds are all described in a weather report. Weather changes each day because the air in our atmosphere is always moving, distributing energy from the Sun. In most places in the world, the types of weather events also vary throughout the year as seasons change.

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Precipitation (kerpasan) is any form of water that falls to the Earth's surface. Different forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, hail, snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Precipitation is important because it helps maintain the atmospheric balance. Without precipitation, all of the land on the planet would be desert. Precipitation helps farmers grow crops and provides a fresh water supply for us to drink. Precipitation can also be damaging. Too much rain and snow can cause severe flooding and lots of traffic accidents. Hail can damage crops and cars. Freezing rain and sleet can destroy trees and power lines. The opposite of precipitation is evaporation.

The Difference Between Hail, Sleet, and Freezing Rain Many times I hear people say during a winter storm that it is hailing. This is actually called sleet. Hail normally occurs in thunderstorms and is the result of strong updrafts that repeatedly carry growing chunks of ice upwards into the clouds. Once the hail stones become too heavy to be lifted by the updrafts, they fall to the ground. Hail stones are normally much larger than sleet pellets and they can cause damage to crops, windshields, people, etc. Sleet occurs during a winter storm and is caused by rain falling into a cold layer of air aloft which has to be below freezing. As the raindrops fall through the cold layer of air, they freeze and become small ice pellets. When they hit your car windshield or your windows at home, they can make quite a racket. Sleet can accumulate on the roads and sidewalks making driving and walking quite hazardous. Freezing rain is basically rain that falls onto the ground and then freezes AFTER it hits the ground. It causes a glaze of ice on trees and any surface that is below freezing. Freezing rain causes the most hazardous of driving and walking conditions. Freezing rain is what causes the power outages as a result of the ice that forms on the trees and power lines making them so heavy that they come down. A temperature inversion causes the conditions that result in freezing rain. This means that it is warmer aloft than it is at the surface.

High Clouds 5,000-13,000m

The high cloud group consists of Cirrus, Cirrostratus, and Cirrocumulus clouds. High clouds are made of ice crystals due to the cold air in the upper sky. The base of a high cloud above the surface can be anywhere from 6000-18000m in the tropics to 3000-8000m in the polar regions.

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Cirrus

Cirrus clouds are the most common of the High Cloud (5000-13000m) group. They are composed entirely of ice and consist of long, thin, wispy streamers. They are commonly known as "mare's tails" because of their appearance. Cirrus clouds are usually white and predict fair weather.

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Cirrocumulus

Cirrocumulus clouds belong to the High Cloud group (5000-13000m). They are small rounded puffs that usually appear in long rows. Cirrocumulus are usually white, but sometimes appear gray. If these clouds cover a lot of the sky, it is called a "mackerel sky" because the sky looks like the scales of a fish. Cirrocumulus are usually seen in the winter time and indicate fair, but cold weather.

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Cirrostratus

Cirrostratus clouds belong to the High Cloud (5000-13000m) group. They are sheet-like thin clouds that usually cover the entire sky. The sun or moon can shine through cirrostratus clouds . Sometimes, the sun or moon will appear to have a halo around it when in the presence of cirrostratus. The ice crystals from the cloud refracts the light from the sun or moon, creating a halo. This halo is the width of your hand when you hold it out at arm's length. Cirrostratus clouds usually come 12-24 hours before a rain or snow storm. This is especially true if Middle group clouds are associated with it.
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Middle Clouds 2,000-7,000m

The middle cloud group consists of Altostratus and Altocumulus clouds. Middle clouds are made of ice crystals and water droplets. The base of a middle cloud above the surface can be anywhere from 2000-8000m in the tropics to 2000-4000m in the polar regions.

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Altocumulus

Altocumulus clouds are part of the Middle Cloud group (2000-7000m up). They are grayish-white with one part of the cloud darker than the other. Altocumulus clouds usually form in groups and are about 1 km thick. Altocumulus clouds are about as wide as your thumb when you hold up your hand at arm's length to look at the cloud. If you see altocumulus clouds on a warm humid morning, then expect thunderstorms by late afternoon.
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Altostratus

Altostratus belong to the Middle Cloud group (2000-7000m up). An altostratus cloud usually covers the whole sky and has a gray or blue-gray appearance. The sun or moon may shine through an altostratus cloud, but will appear watery or fuzzy. An altostratus cloud usually forms ahead of storms with continuous rain or snow. Occasionally, rain will fall from an altostratus cloud. If the rain hits the ground, then the cloud becomes classified as a nimbostratus cloud.

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Low Clouds Surface-2,000m The low cloud group consists of Stratus, Stratocumulus, and Nimbostratus clouds. Low clouds consist of water droplets. The base of a low cloud is from the ground surface to 2000m.

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Stratus

Stratus clouds belong to the Low Cloud (surface-2000m up) group. They are uniform gray in color and can cover most or all of the sky. Stratus clouds can look like a fog that doesn't reach the ground. Light mist or drizzle is sometimes associated with stratus clouds.

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Stratocumulus

Stratocumulus clouds belong to the Low Cloud (surface-2000m) group. These clouds are low, lumpy, and gray. These clouds can look like cells under a microscope - sometimes they line up in rows and other times they spread out. Only light precipitation, generally in the form of drizzle, occurs with stratocumulus clouds. To distinguish between a stratocumulus and an altocumulus cloud, point your hand toward the cloud. If the cloud is about the size of your fist, then it is stratocumulus.
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Nimbostratus

Nimbostratus clouds belong to the Low Cloud (surface to 2000m up) group. They are dark gray with a ragged base. Nimbostratus clouds are associated with continuous rain or snow. Sometimes they cover the whole sky and you can't see the edges of the cloud.

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A hailstone begins as a frozen raindrop or ice crystal. Strong updrafts of warm air and downdrafts of cool air move the frozen particle up and down through different levels of the storm cloud. The hailstone encounters different forms of moisture as it moves, and layers of frozen ice particles accumulate on its surface. The resulting hailstone has a layered structure.

The End