Clouds and Precipitation

Clouds
Visible masses of tiny water droplets or ice
particles suspended in the atmosphere.
3 variables must be present for clouds to
form.
Water vapor: air must be saturated.
Cool temperatures: air must be cooled to the
dew point.
Condensation nuclei: provides a surface
for condensation to occur.
Ex. : dust, salt, smoke.
 Cloud formation
As warm air rises and expands, it cools.
When air reaches a level where its temperature is
lower than dew point, condensation occurs to form
a cloud.
The level where condensation
forms is called the
condensation level.
The base of the cloud
forms here
 What causes air to rise?
Mountains(Orographic Lifting) - Air
hits mountains and is forced up
If one side gets all rain, what happens to
other?
 What causes air to rise?
Frontal Wedging- cool air acts as
barrier over which warmer, less
dense air rises
 What causes air to rise?
Convergence- as air
of the same density
collides since it
cannot be forced
down, so it is forced
up

Localized
Convection- unequal
heating of the Earth
causes differences
in density
 Stability
Rising moving air
= Unstable Air
Warm air rises
into cold air.

Non- moving air

= Stable Air
Warm air above
cold air
Called inversion
Cloud Types
 Cloud Types
Clouds are classified on the basis of
their form and height.
Form
Cirrus hair like, high altitude, wispy

Cumulus pile/pillow, rounded

Stratus layer, sheets or layered, no

distinction between individual clouds
 Cloud Types
Height
High Clouds- Cirrus, Cirrostratus,
Cirrocumulus
What do you notice?

Middle Clouds- Altostratus, altocumulus

What do you notice?

Low Clouds- Stratus, stratocumulus,

nimbostratus, nimbus = rainy cloud
????????????????????
 High Clouds
Cirrus Cirrostratus

Cirrocumulu
s
 Middle Clouds
Altocumulus Altostratus
 Low Clouds
Stratus Stratocumulus

Nimbostratu
s
 Vertical Clouds
Some clouds do not fit into one layer,
these cloud can build to towering heights.

Cumulus puffy cloud usually found at

low cloud levels

Cumulonimbus- formed from rising of

unstable air
Often associated with thunder, lightning,
and hail
Cumulonimbus
Mammatus Cloud Occasionally found
with cumulonimbus clouds
 3
12 4 5

2 6 7

1 8 9
10

11
 Fog
Fog a cloud at the surface of the
Earth
 Precipitation
Any moisture that
falls from the air to
the earths surface.
 How rain forms
Collision-
Coalescence
Step 1: Large
water drop falls
Step 2: More
drops are
added
Step 3: Splat
 Types of Precipitation
What kind of precipitation you receive
depends upon if the water that falls
freezes or melts during descent.
Drizzle: smaller water droplets
Rain: water is melted when it hits ground
Snow: water is frozen and stays frozen
Sleet: water freezes in mid-fall
Freezing Rain(glaze): water freezes upon
impact
Hail: water is frozen as pellets and pellets
grow in clouds.
Cloud Seeding
Method used to
cause or increase
precipitation.
Achieved by adding
condensation nuclei
to clouds