What is clouds

A cloud forms when air is heated by the sun. As it rises, it slowly cools it reaches the saturation point and water condenses, forming a cloud. As long as the cloud and the air that its made of is warmer than the outside air around it, it floats! How do clouds move? Clouds move with the wind. High cirrus clouds are pushed along by the jet stream, sometimes traveling at more than miles-per-hour. When clouds are part of a thunderstorm they usually travel at 30 to 40 mph. W hy do clouds form at different heights in the atmosphere?

The characteristics of clouds are dictated by the elements available, including the amount of water vapor, the temperatures at that height, the wind, and the interplay of other air masses. How is fog formed? There are many different types of fog, but fog is mostly formed when southerly winds bring warm, moist air into a region, possibly ending a cold outbreak. As the warm, moist air flows over much colder soil or snow, dense fog often forms. Warm, moist air is cooled from below as it flows over a colder surface.

If the air is near saturation, moisture will condense out of the cooled air and form fog. With light winds, the fog near the ground can become thick and reduce visibility to zero. They are composed of ice and are thin, wispy clouds blown in high winds into long streamers. Cirrus clouds are usually white and predict fair to pleasant weather.

By watching the movement of cirrus clouds you can tell from which direction weather is approaching. When you see cirrus clouds, it usually indicates that a change in the weather will occur within 24 hours. Cirrostratus Clouds Cirrostratus clouds are thin, sheetlike high clouds that often cover the entire sky. They are so thin that the sun and moon can be seen through them. Cirrostratus clouds usually come hours before a rain or snow storm. Cirrocumulus Clouds Cirrocumulus clouds appear as small, rounded white puffs that appear in long rows.

The small ripples in the cirrocumulus clouds sometime resemble the scales of a fish. Cirrocumulus clouds are usually seen in the winter and indicate fair, but cold weather. Colorful clouds and calm water create a striking sunset scene for canoeists on Winisk River in Ontario, Canada.

A single cloud may hold billions of pounds of water—but not all clouds bring rain. Recipe for a cloud The building blocks of clouds are water and particles —of dust, dirt, or sea salt—known as cloud condensation nuclei.

Cloud atlas Clouds generally form within the troposphere, or the layer of atmosphere closest to the earth. Share Tweet Email. Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London Love them or hate them, there's no denying their growing numbers have added an explosion of color to the city's streets.

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Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. Meet the people trying to help. Animals Whales eat three times more than previously thought. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website.

You cannot download interactives. The movement of water throughout Earth can be understood as a cycle where H20 moves from one state of matter to another. Use these standards-aligned resources to teach middle schoolers more about condensation, precipitation, and weather patterns that are affected by, and a part of, the water cycle. Weather is the state of the atmosphere, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, humidity, precipitation, and cloud cover.

It differs from climate, which is all weather conditions for a particular location averaged over about 30 years. Weather is influenced by latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography.

It impacts the way people dress each day and the types of structures built. Explore weather and its impacts with this curated collection of classroom resources. Most people think of a blizzard as a bad snowstorm, but a winter storm must meet certain criteria to be classified as a blizzard.

According to the National Weather Service, a blizzard is a weather event that includes low temperatures, wind speeds greater than 56 kilometers 35 miles per hour, and a large amount of falling or blowing snow that lowers visibility to 0. These whiteout conditions can cause car accidents and people on foot to become lost. Additionally, the colder temperatures that often follow a blizzard can put people at risk of frostbite or hypothermia.

Explore more about blizzards with this collection of resources. Cloud cover is an important component of understanding and predicting the weather. Not only does cloud cover impact sky conditions and inform precipitation predictions, it also helps regulate the temperature that occurs in a region. Hail is a type of precipitation, or water in the atmosphere. Hail is formed when drops of water freeze together in the cold upper regions of thunderstorm clouds.

Students will investigate the diversity of resources present within the cloud forest and how humans could benefit from this rich ecosystem. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content.

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. We've looked at clouds from both sides now. Photograph by Michele Sutton, My Shot. Also called a thunderhead. Internet cloud. Milky Way. Also called cumulonimbus.

Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. Last Updated Jan. Consider the water on the surface of Earth—that means the oceans, lakes, and streams but also the soil and even the drops and puddles that collect on leaves, buildings, and rocks.

Remember that water is made up of tiny particles and that those particles are in motion. The warmer the water is, the more thermal energy the particles have. On average, as the temperature increases, the number of particles with enough energy to escape into the air increases.

Likewise, the drier the air, the faster the water can evaporate. Another important source of water vapor is plants. Plants draw water through their roots, stems, and leaves by regularly letting water vapor and other gases out of the pores tiny holes in their leaves. Because of the tendency of water particles to stick to each other called cohesion , as this water exits the plant, it draws up the water behind it.

This allows the roots to take in more water from the soil. The release of water vapor by plant pores is called transpiration. Together, evaporation and transpiration contribute the water vapor in the air that can eventually form clouds. Warm, moist air is less dense than the air around it, so it begins to rise higher into the sky.

Wind can also push the parcel of air containing the water vapor to higher elevation or up the side of a mountain. Air temperatures tend to decrease the higher you go in the atmosphere.