Natural Phenomena: Clouds

A cloud is a large collection of very tiny droplets of water or ice crystals. Each of these droplets of water is smaller than a grain of flour, and they are so light that they can float on air.

Air contains water usually in the form of an invisible water vapor. When warm air rises, it expands and cools down. Cool air can’t hold as much water vapor as warm air, so some of the vapor condenses onto tiny pieces of dust that are floating in the air and forms a tiny droplet around each dust particle. When billions of these droplets come together they become a visible cloud. Clouds are white because they reflect the light of the sun. Clouds reflect all the colors the exact same amount so they look white.

Types of Clouds

High Clouds = Cirrus | Above 18,000 feet  -> Cirrus, Cirrostratus, Cirrocumulus
Middle Clouds = Alto | 6,500 feet to 18,000 feet -> Altostratus,Altocumulus
Low Clouds = Stratus | Up to 6,500 feet -> Stratus, Stratocumulus, Nimbostratus

Cirrus	Cirrocumulus
Cirrostratus	Altocumulus
Altostratus	Stratocumulus

Some interesting Cloud Formations

~ by Vikram Sharma on Aug 15, 2008.