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Clouds Humidity • Humidity is amount of water in the air • Warm air can hold much more water than cold air • When there is as much water in the air as possible, it is saturated. The temperature that this happens is called the dew point • http://www.brainpop.com/science/weather/hum idity/ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyxc-81JDbo Cloud formation Warm air rises and cools Since cool air can hold less water than warm air… …the air eventually becomes saturated (air reaches the dew point) Millions of droplets of liquid water collect to form a cloud Water vapor condenses on smoke, dust, salt and other small particles suspended in the air Rain vs. Snow? • At temperatures above freezing, water condenses and falls as rain • At temperatures below freezing, water vapor changes directly to a solid, forming ice crystals Different Types of Clouds • There are three main categories of clouds: - Cumulus clouds - Stratus clouds - Cirrus clouds Latin Root Translation cumulus stratus cirrus nimbus alto heap layer curl of hair rain tall Cumulus Clouds • Puffy, white clouds with flat bottoms • Form when warm air rises • Generally mean fair weather Cumulonimbus • When cumulus clouds get bigger they produce thunderstorms (cumulonimbus) • Cumulonimbus clouds have updrafts that can make them up to 30,000 feet tall Stratus Clouds • Form in layers • Cover large areas of the sky and can block out the sun • Caused by a gentle lifting of a large body of air • When stratus clouds form near the ground, it is called fog Nimbostratus • Nimbostratus clouds are dark and usually produce continuous rain Cirrus Clouds • Thin, feathery, white clouds found at high altitudes • Formed very high in the troposphere • Made of supercooled water droplets • Form when the wind is strong • Can indicate bad weather if they thicken What Kind of Cloud? Weird Clouds (just for fun)