Cloud
Formation
Precipitation
is one key to the water cycle.
Rain
comes from clouds, but where do clouds come from?
Through
the process of evaporation and transpiration, water moves into the atmosphere.
Water vapors then join with dust particles to create clouds. Eventually,
water returns to Earth as precipitation in the form of rain, snow, sleet,
and hail.
All
clouds contain water vapors. You rarely ever see clouds in the desert because
there is very little water to evaporate and form clouds. Coastal regions
can receive a lot of rain because they pull up moisture from surrounding
waters.
Cloud
size are influenced by many complex factors, some of which we still do
not understand very well. These include: heat, seasons, mountain ranges,
bodies of water, volcanic eruptions, and even global warming.
There
are many funny names for clouds.
Have
you ever wondered why clouds have such weird names?
In
1802 an Englishman by the name of Luke Howard invented the cloud naming
system that is still in use today. Howard used Latin names to describe
clouds. (The first part of a cloud's name describes height, the second
part shape.)
The
prefixes denoting heights are: cirro,
high clouds above 20,000 feet, alto
and mid level clouds between 6,000 - 20,000 feet. There is no prefix for
low level clouds.
The
names denoting shapes are:cirrus
mean curly or fibrous, stratus
means layered, while cumulus
means lumpy or piled.
Nimbo
or nimbus
is added to indicate that a cloud can produce precipitation.
Given
that information, describe what each of the following clouds would look
and act like?
-
Cumulonimbus
-
Nimbostartus
-
Cirrocumulus
-
Altostratus
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