Making note of the cloud types can give you insight into impending weather conditions. Let's learn more about the different cloud types and what type of weather you can expect from each. Cumulus clouds are probably the most well-known of the cloud types. They generally form from convection, with air parcels rising vertically into the atmosphere called updrafts and condensing into the puffy, cotton-like clouds that we all know and love. Typically, cumulus clouds are associated with pleasant weather where you can lie back on the grass and admire the sky.
Above: Fair weather cumulus clouds over a field Courtesy Wikipedia. If updrafts become stronger, those seemingly innocuous cumulus clouds may grow taller into what we call cumulonimbus clouds. These are the awe-inspiring and ominous clouds mainly observed during the summer months and can be indicative of developing thunderstorms, including lightning, hail, heavy rain and even tornadoes. The strongest thunderstorms can even produce cumulonimbus clouds that tower up to 60, feet! Above: Textbook example of a towering cumulonimbus cloud Courtesy Wikipedia.
Personally, stratus clouds are my least-favorite and I'm sure that likely goes for most people. These clouds, which look like a layer of gray blanketing the sky, are generally associated with wet conditions. They typically form when warm air is lifted over cold air, which allows the water vapor to condense rather uniformly, transforming the sky into a gray and dreary scene. In fact, stratus clouds can last for days and bring cool temperatures, persistent rain, drizzle, or even snow.
Above: Layer of stratus clouds Courtesy Wikipedia. Now on to my favorite type of cloud, cirrus clouds! Ever notice those high, thin and wispy clouds that usually make for beautiful sunsets? A cell is a mass of air that has up and down air currents. It creates large amounts of rainfall over small areas. Another type of thunderstorm is a multi-cell squall line that produces winds and hail. Several cells form along a front or boundary, and cool air enforces this boundary. It often stretches hundreds of miles.
This type of storm lasts hours and creates damage from the strong winds and hail. It produces clouds lower in the atmosphere that creates cloudiness. The lower cloud is called the shelf cloud. Supercell thunderstorms are the most threatening, creating hail, flash floods, tornados, and strong winds. These storms last hours, and winds changing direction in the air mass creates rotating wind within the storm.
They produce most of the tornados in the US and large hailstones. Winds in these storms can reach miles or more. In the thunderstorm cloud, ice crystals form and bump into each other, causing an electric charge. Eventually, the entire cloud or air mass fills up with ice crystals at the top of the air mass. The negatively charged particles sink to the bottom. When the negative and positive charges get big enough, a spark or lightning occurs. This is similar to static electricity sparks that consumers see at home but is much bigger.
Lightning is hotter than the sun and sometimes is caused by negative ions in the clouds that are attracted to positive ions on the ground. Lightning heats the air around it because it is so hot that thus creating a booming sound called thunder. The air expands fast from the heat and cools quickly, creating the sound known as thunder.
Most lightning will occur inside a cloud, But sometimes it occurs outside between the cloud and the ground. It can strike trees, rods, and even people causing severe injury and damage. There are several different types of lightning produced by storm clouds. Cloud to ground lightning is the most common and occurs in a zig-zag pattern that hits the ground and often returns upward to the air mass or cloud.
This is called the return stroke of the lightning bolt. Intra cloud lightning occurs within the clouds and does not reach the ground.
Sheet lightning will light up the cloud producing bright light inside. Heat lightning may be produced when the clouds are too far away to hear thunder. It often produces a reddish color similar to sunset due to the heat generated. Spider lightning is described as horizontal lightning often seen on the underside of clouds. These are a few different types of lighting produced by atmospheric conditions. Severe thunderstorms are described as storms with hail 1 inch or larger with winds over 50 miles per hour.
Thunderstorms occur in the spring and summer in climates with warm weather in the afternoon or evening. Rainfall from severe thunderstorms causes flash flooding, brings down trees, powerlines, and destroy homes. Lightening from severe storms causes many fires around the world. Otherwise known as The King of Clouds, cumulonimbus clouds exist through the entire height of the troposphere, usually characterised by their icy, anvil-shaped top.
Cumulonimbus clouds are menacing looking multi-level clouds, extending high into the sky in towers or plumes. More commonly known as thunderclouds, cumulonimbus is the only cloud type that can produce hail, thunder and lightning.
The base of the cloud is often flat, with a very dark wall-like feature hanging underneath, and may only lie a few hundred feet above the Earth's surface. Cumulonimbus clouds are born through convection, often growing from small cumulus clouds over a hot surface. They get taller and taller until they represent huge powerhouses, storing the same amount of energy as 10 Hiroshima-sized atom bombs. They can also form along cold fronts as a result of forced convection, where milder air is forced to rise over the incoming cold air.
Cumulonimbus clouds are associated with extreme weather such as heavy torrential downpours, hail storms, lightning and even tornadoes. Individual cumulonimbus cells will usually dissipate within an hour once showers start falling, making for short-lived, heavy rain.
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