Earth Science Cloud Types and Precipitation Chapter 18 Section 3

Earth Science Earth Science

Cloud Types and Precipitation Cloud Types and Precipitation Chapter 18Chapter 18

Section 3Section 3

Types of Clouds A. Clouds are classified

on the basis of their form and height.

1.Cirrus clouds are high white, and thin.

a. they can occur as patches or as delicate veil like sheets extended wispy fibers that often have a feathery like appearance

A. Cumulus clouds consist of rounded individual cloud masses.

1.Normally they a flat base and the appearance of rising domes or towers.

Types of Clouds

A. Stratus clouds are the best described as sheets or layers that caver much or all of the sky.

1. While there may be minor breaks, there are no distinct individual cloud units.

Clouds

Types of clouds

cirrus cumulus stratus

High Clouds

Three cloud type make up the family of high clouds cirrus, cirrostratus, and cirrocumulus. All high clouds are thin and white and are often made up of ice crystals because of low temperatetures and small quantizes of water.

Middle Clouds

Clouds that appear in the middle range, from about 2000 to 6000 meters, have the prefix alto- as part of their name.

Altocumulus clouds are composed of rounded masses that differ from cirrocumulus clouds in that altocumulus clouds are larger and denser.

Altostratus clouds create a uniform white to grayish sheet covering the sky with the sun or moon visible as a bright spot.

This is a chart to show the different levels in clouds,

T see if you can find the

Cirrocumulus

Altocumulus

And

Nimbostratus

Low Clouds

There is three types of low clouds.

1. Stratus

a) they are a uniform, fog –like layer of clouds that frequently covers much of the sky.

1. Stratocumulus

a) When they develop a scalloped bottom that appears as a long parallel rolls or broken rounded patches.

2. Nimbostratus

a) thy are one of the main precipitation makers.

LOW CLOUDS

THIS IS SOME AUTO SHAOPES OF LOW CLOUDS.

Clouds if Vertical Development

• Some clouds don’t even have a range some start out low and the work their way up to the high level of clouds. They also grow dramatically under the proper circumstances.

Fog Physically there is no difference between fog and a

clouds. Their appearance and structure a basically the same.

The difference is the method and place formation. Most fogs are the result of radiation cooling or the movement of air over the cold surface.

Fog is defined as a cloud with its base at or very near the ground.

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Fog Caused by Cooling

٭ A blanket of fog is produced in some West Coast locations when warm, moist air form the Pacific Ocean moves over the cold California Current and then is carried onshore by prevailing winds.

٭ Fogs also can form on cool clear nights when Earths surface cools rapidly by radiation.

٭ As the night progresses, a thin layer of air in contact with the ground is cooled below the dew point. As it cools it becomes denser and drains into low areas such as river valleys, were thick fog accumulations may occur.

Fogs Caused by Evaporation

When cool air moves over warm water , enough moisture may evaporate from the water surface to produce saturation. As the rising water vapor meet the cold air, it immediately condenses and rises with the air that us being warmed from below.

How Precipitation Forms

• For precipitation to form, cloud droplets must grow in volume by roughly one million times.

Forms of Precipitation

The type of perception that reaches Earths surface depends on the temperature profile on the lowest few kilometers of the atmosphere.

Forms of Precipitation

Hailstone is a form of precipitation

Rain is also a form of precipitation

Another form is snowSleet is another form of precipitation