Clouds
Leaflet No. 4. ©2013 by Andrew Schuerger. Licensed for use in one classroom.
What is a cloud?
1) When water evaporates, ‘water vapor’ is not visible.
2) When water vapor condenses into water droplets or ice
crystals, it becomes visible.
3) Clouds are visible water droplets or ice crystals in the sky.
4) Clouds can form over water or land.
The Water Cycle
1) Water evaporates from
oceans and land surfaces.
2) Water vapor rises into the
atmosphere and begins to
cool.
3) As the water cools it begins
to condense into small
water droplets or ice
crystals.
4) Water droplets and ice
crystals form clouds.
5) Once the clouds have
enough water, rain or snow
begins to fall.
6) Precipitation then collects
on the surface and begins
the Water Cycle again.
There are many types of clouds. Here are a few examples.
Let’s look at six different types of clouds.
(1) Cumulus clouds are white and puffy.
(2) Cirrus clouds are thin and wispy.
(3) Nimbostratus clouds are small rain clouds.
rain
(4) Cumulonimbus clouds are BIG rain clouds.
(5) Stratus clouds are uniform horizontal
layers of clouds.
(6) Fog is a cloud that forms near the ground.
How do thunderstorms form?
1) Thunderstorms start out as small cumulus clouds.
2) As more moisture enters the atmosphere, the cumulus clouds begin to build into
larger and higher clouds forming cumulonimbus clouds.
3) As more and more rain falls from the cumulonimbus clouds, the cloud gets smaller
and eventually it stops raining.
Young nimbostratus clouds building into a
towering cumulonimbus cloud.
Nimbostratus clouds forming into a cumulonimbus thunderstorm.
Mature cumulonimbus cloud forming an anvil top.
anvil
Nimbostratus clouds forming a cumulonimbus
thunderstorm with an anvil top.
The colors on the arrows equal
the names of the clouds.
Mature cumulonimbus cloud forming an anvil top.
Anvil
Thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
Thunderstorms can produce lightning, rain, hail,
tornadoes, or all four.
How does hail form?
1) Violent updrafts in
cumulonimbus rain clouds
keep ice particles suspended
in the cloud.
2) The ice crystals continue to
increase in size.
3) Once the updraft winds
stop, the larger crystals fall
from the clouds as hail.
Guess the cloud type.
**Look at the Notes for the answers.
Guess the cloud type.
Guess the cloud type.
Guess the cloud type.
Guess the cloud type.
Guess the cloud type.
Guess the cloud type.
Guess the cloud type.
Guess the cloud type.
Guess the cloud type.
Resources
The information, photographs and illustrations presented here were obtained from
several government websites:
a) NOAA = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [www.noaa.gov]
b) NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration [www.nasa.gov]
c) NWS = NOAA National Weather Service [www.weather.gov]
Additional Websites
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.go
The Weather Channel: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/tracker
The Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/
NOAA National Weather Service Radar: http://radar.weather.gov
NOAA’s photo-library: http://photolib.noaa.gov
NOAA Ocean Research: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov