Conditions for Cloud Formation

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Conditions for Cloud Formation

• Clouds are made of which 2 states of Matter?
• Liquid
• Ice
• CONDENSATION NUCLEI
• Surface for water vapor to condense on (dust,
  smoke, salt)
• -How does this help the formation of clouds?

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Other ingredients for Cloud Formation

• Air must be saturated
• Cooling leads to condensation
• 3. LOW PRESSURE
• Causes air to e x p a n dcooling air to its
  dewpoint
• Cloud Video

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Convective Cooling

• The lowering of the temperature of a mass of air
  due to its rising and expanding.

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FORCEFUL LIFTING
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FORCEFUL LIFTING

• 1. Frontal Wedging
• - a moving mass of warm air encounters a mass of
  cold air in its path and rises up over it
• 2. Orographic Lifting
• - An air mass is force from a low elevation to a
  higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain.

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Forceful Lifting Frontal Wedging
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Forceful Lifting Frontal Wedging
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Forceful Lifting Frontal Wedging
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Forceful Lifting Frontal Wedging
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Orographic LiftingRAINSHADOW Effect
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Forceful Lifting
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FOG

• The result of condensation of water vapor in the
  air. Formed near the surface of the earth.
• Like a cloud, only lower.

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FOG

• Radiation fog
• At night, layer of air above ground is cooled to
  its dew point
• Advection fog
• Warm moist air moves over a cold surface (mostly
  coastal)

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Precipitation

• Work on 5.04 table
• Use pg. 489-493
• Due Monday!

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CLOUD CLASSIFICATION
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CLOUD TYPES

• There are three major cloud types
• Stratus- low layers of clouds. These clouds can
  bring light rain. Fog is usually a layer of
  stratus clouds touching the ground.

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CLOUD TYPES

• Cumulus- mid-level clouds that are fluffy and
  have flat bases. Large cumulus clouds can
  produce thunderstorms.
• Cirrus- high-level clouds that are wispy. No
  precipitation is associated with these clouds.

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CLOUD TYPES

• Cloud prefixes suffixes
• Cirro- high level clouds
• Alto- mid-level clouds
• Strato- low-level clouds
• Nimbo/nimbus- rain clouds
• Cumulo- towering clouds
• These terms can be combined to form several cloud
  names.

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CLOUD TYPES

• Cumulonimbus- towering cumulus cloud capable of
  thunderstorms.
• Stratocumulus- low-level, layered and puffy
  clouds.
• Nimbostratus- low layers of clouds that are
  capable of bringing long, steady rain.

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CLOUD TYPES

• Cirrostratus- high, thin layered clouds. These
  can form halos around the moon or sun.
• Altostratus- mid-level, layered clouds. These
  look gray/blue. The sun is visible through them.
• Altocumulus- mid-level clouds that are puffy.
• Cirrocumulus- high-level clouds that are puffy.