Clouds

Name Block Date CLOUDS Humidity – The amount of water vapor or moisture in the air. Relative Humidity – The amount of humidity the air contains versus the amount it can actually hold. Condensation – Process when water vapor goes from a gas to liquid. Dew Point – The temperature the air must cool to in order to be saturated and condensation to occur. Cloud – A collection of millions of tiny water droplets or ice crystals

How do clouds form? 1. Warm air rises and cools 2. The rising air cools and becomes saturated 3. At saturation the water vapor changes to a liquid or a solid depending on the air temperature 4. Higher temperatures = Condensation of water vapor on particles, such as dust, smoke and salt, that is suspended in the air as tiny water droplets 5. Lower temperatures = Below freezing, water vapor turn into a solid, forming ice crystals

Cloud Types Classifications based on: 1. Shape or Form 2. Altitude 3. Precipitation

SKETCH / PHOTO 1. SHAP E OR FORM DESCRI PTION Your foldable ALTITUDE CLASSIFICATIONS SKETCH / PHOTO 1. SHAP E OR FORM DESCRI PTION Your foldable ALTITUDE 2. 3. 4.

Shape or Form 1. Cumulus = heaped 2. Stratus = layered In 1803 Luke Howard used Latin words to CLASSIFY the 4 types of clouds: Write ONLY these on your foldable 1. Cumulus = heaped 2. Stratus = layered 3. Cirrus = curl of hair 4. Nimbo = rain

SKETCH / PHOTO SHAP E OR FORM DESCRI PTION ALTITUDE 1. Cumulus - heaped SKETCH / PHOTO SHAP E OR FORM DESCRI PTION ALTITUDE 2. Stratus - layered 3. Cirrus – curl of hair 4. Nimbo - rain

DESCRIPTIONS Cumulus Puffy, white clouds that tend to have flat bottoms Formed when warm air rises Indicates fair weather Other adjectives: Piled, lumpy, billowy

Stratus Form in layers Covers large areas of the sky Often blocks the sun or moon Formed by gentle lifting of a large mass of air FOG - stratus cloud that comes in contact with the ground Other adjectives: sheets, blanket

Cirrus Thin, feathery, white clouds High altitudes Formed when the wind is strong Indicated approaching bad weather Other adjectives: wispy looking, horse tails

Nimbo When nimbo or nimbus is part of the cloud’s name it means precipitation might fall Nimbostratus clouds are dark stratus cloud that produce light to heavy continuous rain Cumulonimbus clouds are cumulous clouds that form thunderstorms and produce heavy rain

Altitude Names Make-up / Other Draw this in HIGH – 6,000 meters + 1. 2. 3. Draw this in 4. 5. MEDIUM – 6,000 meters to 2,000 meters LOW – Below 2,000 meters 6. 7. 8. MULTI-LEVEL 9. 10.

Cirrus clouds HIGH altitude clouds – 6000 meters + Primarily composed of ice crystals and include the following: Cirrus clouds

2. Cirrocumulus clouds

They “blanket” the sky and are usually translucent 3. Cirrostratus clouds

MEDIUM altitude clouds – 2000 meters to below 6000 meters They can contain ice crystals and/or water droplets and may occasionally be associated with some light precipitation. Alto means MID They appear “puffier” than the HIGH level cirrocumulus because we’re closer to them! 4. Altocumulus

5. Altostratus

6. Cumulus LOW altitude clouds – Below 2000 meters Low clouds are most often composed of water droplets, but can have ice crystals in colder climates. 6. Cumulus Cumulus clouds tend to be “opaque” due to their “thickness”

7. Stratocumulus

People often refer to a Stratus cloud filled sky as “overcast”

is considered a low Stratus cloud that is in contact with the ground FOG is considered a low Stratus cloud that is in contact with the ground So . . . Fog = Stratus Cloud NOT a separate cloud type!

Multi-layer clouds: 9. Nimbostratus A gray and rainy day is usually filled with Nimbostratus clouds! These clouds are very dark, usually overcast, and are associated with large areas of continuous precipitation

10. CUMULONIMBUS Can extend above 60,000 feet They usually have large anvil-shaped tops These are the clouds that can produce lightning, thunder, heavy rains, hail, strong winds, and tornadoes.

All together

Special Clouds: Mammatus Clouds

Here are some other, rarer, types of clouds:

Produced by the flow of air interacting with Orographic clouds Produced by the flow of air interacting with mountainous terrain. CAP cloud

The END!

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