1. By Zach Kraus
http://www.layoutsparks.com/1/142820/rain-
cloud-falling-drops.html

2. Adiabatic Temperature Changes and
Expansion and Cooling
• Air cools when it expands and it warms when
it compresses
• Dry adiabatic rate is 10ᵒ per every 1000
meters
• Wet adiabatic rate is 5ᵒ-8ᵒ per every 100
meters
modelliabridal.net

3. Orographic Lifting
• When elevated land, like mountains, blocks
the airflow
• which can cause adiabatic cooling which
makes clouds and precipitation
• ag.arizona.edu

4. Frontal Wedging
• When cool dense air makes less dense warmer
air rise above the cooler air
• geo.hunter.cuny.edu

5. Convergence
• Airflow from more than one direction, usually
up
• Leads to adiabatic cooling and the formation
of clouds
• ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu

6. Localized Convective Lifting
• When warm pockets of air around cooler air
pushes the warm air up
• rst.gsfc.nasa.gov

7. Stability
splendidlittlestars.blogspot.com
• Stable air resists vertical movement while
unstable air rises freely
• The most stable air is when air temperature
rises with height which is called a temperature
inversion
• Thin clouds are formed when stable air is
forced into the atmosphere, compared to
puffy clouds formed from unstable air

8. Condensation
• Can be in the forms of dew, fog, or clouds
• Air must be saturated for any kind of
condensation
• Must have a surface to condensate on
usefilm.com

9. Types of Clouds
• Classified on the basis of their form and height
• Cirrus clouds are white, thin, and high
• Cumulus clouds are round individual clouds
• Stratus clouds are sheets that cover up a lot of
the sky
electricscotland.com

10. High Clouds
• First type, Cirrus clouds are very thin and
wispy
• Second type, Cirrocumulus that have fluffy
masses
• Last type, Cirrostratus clouds are flat layers
eo.ucar.edu

11. Middle Clouds
• Range from about 2,000-6,000 meters
• Altocumulus clouds are thicker and denser
than cirrocumulus
• Altostratus clouds creates a white blanket that
covers the sky
eo.ucar.edu

12. eo.ucar.edu
Low Clouds
• Stratus, stratocumulus, and nimbostratus are
the three types of low clouds
• Stratus clouds are like foggy layers of clouds
• Stratocumulus clouds appear as long patches
of clouds
• Nimbostratus clouds are usually the clouds
that create precipitation and are made of
stable air

13. Clouds of Vertical Development
• Associated with unstable air
• Usually cumulus clouds that grow upward and
turns into cumulonimbus cloud that usually
makes rain and thunderstorms
prwatch.org

14. Fog
• No difference between fog and clouds, fog is
defined as a cloud with its base close to the
ground
• Sometimes made by warm moist air moves
over cold ground
• May occur when cool air moves over warm
water
stuffintheair.com

15. Cold Cloud Precipitation
• The Bergeron procedure relies on super
cooling and supersaturating to chill the water
in the air
• Super cooled water is water under 0 and will
readily freeze if touches a solid object
stockphotopro.com

16. Warm Cloud Precipitation
• The collision-coalescence process forms
raindrops in warm clouds
frrl.wordpress.com

17. Rain and Snow
• The term rain means drops of water that fall
from clouds and need to be .5 mm, rain
smaller than that is considered drizzle
• When the temperature is lower 6 sided ice
crystals that are fluffy and white fall from
clouds
its.caltech.edu

18. Sleet, Glaze, and Hail
• Sleet is falling pieces of ice that are small and
almost see through
• Glaze is raindrops that freeze when they hit
the ground
• Hail is pieces of ice that grow bigger and
bigger as they fall through the air
askpari.wordpress.com

19. school.discoveryeducation.com