Clouds!By: Alexie Canik

I Hope You Enjoy My Power Point!

Types of Clouds Cirrus

Cirrocumulus

Cirrostratus

Altocumulus

Altostratus

Stratus

Stratocumulus

Nimbostratus

Cumulus

Cumulonimbus

Lenticular

Kelvin-Helmholtz

Mammatus

Contrails

Cirrus Cloud FactsThin wispy clouds blown by high winds into long streamers.Form above 6,000 m (20,000 ft)Highest clouds.Usually mean good weather

Cirrostratus CloudsOften cover entire sky.So thin, even sun & moon can be seen through them.Thin, sheet like clouds.

Cirrocumulus CloudsAppear as small, rounded white puffs of cloud.The small ripples in cirrocumulus clouds sometimes resemble fish scales.At times when there is a lot of cirrocumulus clouds, the sky is named “mackerel sky”

Stratus CloudsUniform gray clouds that often cover entire skyResemble fog that doesn’t reach the ground.Usually no precipitation falls from stratus clouds, at times though, it may drizzle.When thick fog “lifts” the resulting clouds are low stratus.

Nimbostratus Clouds

Dark gray, “wet” cloud, associated with continuously falling rain or snow.Often produce precipitation that is unusually light to moderate.

Stratocumulus CloudsStratocumulus clouds generally appear as a low, lumpy layer of clouds that is sometimes accompanied by weak intensity precipitation.Stratocumulus vary in color from dark gray to light gray and may appear as rounded masses, rolls, etc., with breaks of clear sky in between.

Cumulus CloudsPuffy clouds that sometimes look like pieces of floating cotton.These clouds grow upward, and they can develop into a giant cumulonimbus, which is a thunderstorm cloud.

Cumulonimbus Clouds

These clouds are named because they are puffy ("cumulo")

and because they often are dark clouds which cause

rainstorms ("nimbus").

Cumulonimbus clouds are different because they cannot be

classified as low, middle or high altitude clouds.

These are often storm clouds which can be ten or more miles

in height, extending through all the levels of altitude.

Lenticular CloudsLenticular clouds, technically known as altocumulus standing

lenticularis, are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high

altitudes, normally aligned at right-angles to the wind direction.

Where stable moist air flows over a mountain or a range of

mountains, a series of large-scale standing waves may form on

the downwind side. Lenticular clouds sometimes form at the

crests of these waves.

Kelvin-Helmholtz Clouds

These clouds are formed between two layers of air, with

different densities, traveling at different speeds.

Therefore, if a warm, less dense layer exists over a layer of

colder, denser air, and the wind shear across the two layers is

strong enough, eddies will develop along the boundary.

Consequently, the clouds will take on a wave-like appearance

Mammatus Clouds

Sometimes very ominous in appearance, mammatus clouds are

harmless and do not mean that a tornado is about to form; a

commonly held misconception. In fact, mammatus are usually seen

after the worst of a thunderstorm has passed.

As updrafts carry precipitation enriched air to the cloud top,

upward momentum is lost and the air begins to spread out

horizontally, becoming a part of the anvil cloud

Contrails CloudsThe condensation trail emitted by jet aircraft exhaust are

called contrails.

Contrails form when hot humid air from jet exhaust mixes

with environmental air of low vapor pressure and low

temperature.

Cloud formation by a mixing process is similar to the cloud

you see when you exhale and "see your breath".

Resources..http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/clouds/cloud_types.htmlhttp://www.cityofportsmouth.com/school/dondero/msm/weather/cirrus.htmlhttp://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/cirrus.htmlhttp://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/%28Gh%29/wwhlpr/stratocumulus.rxmlhttp://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/cumulus.html

Even More Resources..http://chalk.richmond.edu/education/projects/webunits/weather/cumulonimbus.htmlhttp://www.crystalinks.com/lenticular.htmlhttp://bobqat.com/Essays/Balloon/kelvin_helmholtz.htmlhttp://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/%28Gh%29/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/oth/mm.rxml

Jeez, Moooore Resources..

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/contrail.html