| Do you ever lay on the grass and looked up at | | | | below the cloud and on the ground, thus the |
| the clouds? We all like to pick out various shapes | | | | water vapor can come down to earth as snow, |
| and watch them change in the breeze. Did you | | | | sleet, hail, freezing rain or rain, depending on the |
| know there is a scientific way to do this? | | | | mixture of these temperatures. |
| English scientist Luke Howard in 1803 developed a | | | | Do you know why some rain showers are |
| cloud classification system. Such classification | | | | intermittent and some are steady. Intermittent |
| allows other scientists to study cloud patterns. His | | | | rain or other precipitation signals atmospheric |
| system is still used to today and it helps us to | | | | instability. Steady rain usually happens when a |
| predict weather changes. | | | | front is passing through an area. |
| There are two basic types of clouds: cumuliform | | | | Lighting and thunder occur only in cumulus clouds. |
| and stratiform. Cumuliform clouds are puffy and | | | | These clouds develop negative and positive |
| are formed by the lifting of the air and water | | | | electrical charges. As the charges grow, they are |
| vapor that is contained in each cloud. Stratiform | | | | discharged as Nature's familiar sound and light |
| clouds are flat layers that usually occur in stable | | | | show. |
| weather. | | | | It is interesting to watch clouds move and change. |
| These two types are further classified by the | | | | See if you can predict the weather by watching |
| height at which they occur. Cirrus clouds are | | | | them. If you see puffy clouds with a flat bottom |
| those formed above 16,500 feet and may be | | | | start to form, keep watching them. If they grow |
| designated cirrostatus or cirrocumulus. The next | | | | and darken, chances are you will see a storm |
| level forms between 6,500 and 16,500 feet and | | | | coming through. If the clouds remain flat, things |
| have the "alto" prefix (such as altostratus or | | | | will remain calm. |
| altocumulus). The lowest layer has no prefix. | | | | Remember surface conditions in addition to cloud |
| There is an exception to this system: | | | | conditions affect weather. As air passes over |
| cumulonimbus clouds extend through all altitude | | | | mountains or large bodies of water, the air |
| levels. "Nimbus" means rain-bearing. Of course, all | | | | moves, rotates and picks up or discharges water. |
| clouds are formed by water vapor. As the vapor | | | | That's why some areas can have much more |
| becomes saturated, it gets heavier and falls to | | | | snowfall or rainfall than others. |
| the ground. If conditions are cold enough, the | | | | By watching the weather, you will learn a lot |
| vapor becomes ice crystals, such as in hail or | | | | about how Mother Nature operates. Instead of |
| snow. Otherwise, it becomes rain. These | | | | picking out animal pictures in the clouds, watch |
| conditions include temperatures within the cloud, | | | | how the clouds affect our climate. |