by Madison Williams
At some point in your life, you have likely looked up at the sky and saw clouds that resembled an animal, object, or even a letter. Maybe you have seen a clear sky in the morning, and by the afternoon, the sky was filled with clouds. There are many unique types of clouds, but they are all formed out of the same materials. The main ingredients needed to make a cloud are water and dust, but you can also find pollen and salt particles in clouds.
The first step in cloud formation is accumulation of water vapor and dust particles in the atmosphere. The next step is the mass of particles and vapor cool down in temperature enough for ice crystals, or cloud droplets, to form. The temperature cools through the rising of the air. Now you have clouds! Sometimes the ice crystals separate in the clouds into positive and negative charges when there is turbulent wind. The negative charges become attracted to the positive charges that are naturally in the ground, and this causes lightning to form.
There are many different types of clouds, and many common types are shown in the photo below. Luke Howard, a chemist and meteorologist defined four main types of clouds, and all subtypes fall under these categories:
- Cumulus–these clouds are heaped or look like they are in a pile
- Stratus–these clouds form in sheets or layers
- Cirrus–these clouds are curly or thread-like
- Nimbus–these clouds are dark, gray, and produce rain
Specific types of clouds are found at different altitudes in the atmosphere. Low clouds are found at around 7,000 feet, medium clouds are found between 7,000 feet and 17,000 feet, and high clouds are found between 17,000 and 35,000 feet. The photo below shows the different locations of low, middle, and high clouds.
There are also some special clouds that are not part of the other groupings, such as contrails and orographic clouds. Contrails are formed from the water vapor released from jet plane engines. Orographic clouds are formed by the movement of air over mountains or sea breezes. They can also be formed when two masses of air flow meet at one point in the sky.
Next time you are outside, take a minute to look up at the sky and see what cloud types you can identify and where in the atmosphere they might be located!
