Download Most Clouds Form as Air Rises and Cools

Most Clouds Form as Air Rises
and Cools
Ch. 16:Earths atmosphere is a
blanket of gases that supports and
protects life
What you’ve learned
• Water vapor circulates from
Earth to the atmosphere
• Warm air is less dense than
cool air and rises
What your going to learn in 16.3
• How water in the
atmosphere changes
• How clouds form
• Characteristics and types of
clouds
How clouds form
• It rains and there are water puddles all over the
ground.
• As it starts to heat up the water evaporates and
turns into water vapor.
• The vapor rises and as it rises it gets colder.
• This causes water vapor to freeze or form tiny water
droplets.
• As it all condenses they form clouds.
• Once they get too heavy they simply fall as
precipitation.
Different types of clouds
• Cirrus: appear feathery or whispy
• Cumulus: clouds that can grow to be very tall
• Stratus: clouds that form in flat layers
Word Parts tell more about clouds:
• With nimbo- or nimbus- it means it’s a type of cloud
that produces precipitation
• With the prefix alto- it means clouds at a medium
altitude
Cirrus Clouds
• Form in very cold air at
high altitudes
• Made of ice crystals and
have a wispy or
feathery appearance
• Usually seen in good
weather but they can
sometimes mean a
storm is coming
Cumulus Clouds
 Puffy white with dark
bases (look like cotton
balls)
 Usually occur during
good weather when
warm air rises and its
water vapor condenses
 If they get really tall they
can produce showers
 Cumulonimbus are the
largest and cause
thunderstorms (can be
11 miles high)
Stratus Clouds
• Smooth gray clouds that
form in layers
• Produce light
precipitation
• The higher up they
form, the thinner they
are
Fog
• Fog is a cloud that rests on the ground or a
body of water
• Forms when a surface is colder than the air
above it
• Clears as ground is heated up