1. Clouds

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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

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

9. 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

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

11. 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

12. 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.

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

14. 2. Cirrocumulus clouds

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

16. 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

17. 5. Altostratus

18. 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”

19. 7. Stratocumulus

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

21. 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!

22. 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

23. 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.

24. All together

25. Special Clouds:
Mammatus Clouds

26. Here are some other, rarer, types of clouds:

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

31. The END!