1. Moisture in the Atmosphere

2. Cloud Formation
Clouds form when warm, moist air rises, then expands and cools in a convection current

4. As the air reaches it’s dew point, the water vapor in the air condenses around condensation nuclei.
Condensation nuclei: small particles in the air where cloud droplets form
When millions of these nuclei collect together, a cloud forms

5. 2 Ways Clouds Form
1. Orographic Lifting: Cloud formation that occurs when warm moist air is forced to rise up the side of a mountain.

6. 2. Collision of Air Masses: when in contact with cooler air, warm air tends to rise above the cooler air. Then, the warm air cools and as this happens the water vapor in it forms a cloud

7. Cloud Classification High Clouds – form above 6000m Mostly Ice Cirro
Types of Clouds
Clouds Made Of…
Height Words
Shape Words
High Clouds – form above 6000m
Mostly Ice
Cirro
Cirrus: wispy, stringy, hair-like, feathery
Middle Clouds- form at m
A Mixture of Ice and Liquid
Alto
Cumulus: puffy, lumpy looking
Low Clouds- form at 2000m
Liquid
Strato
Stratus: smooth, sheets of clouds
Example: A cirrocumulus cloud is a high, puffy, lumpy looking cloud
Nimbus/Nimbo: gray, rain clouds

8. Cloud Types

9. Precipitation
Clouds are made of water droplets that join together in a process called coalescence
If the process continues, the droplet becomes too heavy to stay in the cloud and it falls to Earth as precipitation
Precipiation includes both liquid and solid form
The main types are rain, snow, hail, and sleet

11. What Type of Precipitation Will Form?
High Clouds – Ice Crystals
Lower Clouds – Water Droplets
Warm Air = Rain
Cold Air = Freezing Rain, Sleet, or Snow

12. Types of Precipitation
Rain = Water Droplets
Sleet = Water Droplets that FREEZE into solid pellets in the air
Freezing Rain = Water droplets that FREEZE when they hit frozen surfaces
Snow = Ice crystals that stay frozen
Hail = layered frozen balls of ice

13. Sleet
Freezing Rain
Hail

14. How in the Hail?
Cumulonimbus Clouds
Hail Video