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The Clouds

Types of Clouds

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Ian Orbe
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11 views

The Clouds

Types of Clouds

Uploaded by

Ian Orbe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ES 3 METEOROLOGY

Name: Ian Kristian D. Orbe____________ Course/Year: BSED-Science 31


Assignment 1.

1. What is Cloud?
A cloud is a mass of water drops or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.
Clouds form when water condenses in the sky. The condensation lets us see the
water vapor. There are many different types of clouds. Clouds are an important part of
Earth’s weather and climate (NASA, 2017).
In another definition, Smith (2018) states that clouds are made up of very light
water droplets or ice crystals. These particles can float in the air. When warm air rises,
swells and cools, it forms clouds. Many water droplets formed together scatter reflect
sunlight and you see a white cloud, but with a dark or gray cloud, the sunlight is
scattered in all directions instead of being reflected.

2. What are the types of clouds?


According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO)
International Cloud Atlas, which is the official worldwide standard for clouds, the
following are the definitions of the ten basic cloud types and is divided by their height:

High-Level Clouds Mid-Level Clouds Low-Level Clouds

Cirrus (Ci) Altocumulus (Ac) Cumulus (Cu)

Cirrocumulus (Cc) Altostratus (As) Cumulonimbus (Cb)


ES 3 METEOROLOGY

Cirrostratus (Cs) Nimbostratus (Ns) Stratocumulus (Sc)

Stratus (St)

3. What are the physical properties of each type of clouds?


Below are the following physical properties of each type of clouds:
1. Cirrus (Ci) - detached clouds in the form of white, delicate filaments, mostly white
patches or narrow bands. They may have a fibrous (hair-like) and/or silky sheen
appearance.
2. Cirrocumulus (Cc) - thin, white patch, sheet, or layered of clouds without shading.
They are composed of very small elements in the form of more or less regularly
arranged grains or ripples.
3. Cirrostratus (Cs) - transparent, whitish veil clouds with a fibrous (hair-like) or
smooth appearance. A sheet of cirrostratus which is very extensive, nearly always
ends by covering the whole sky.
4. Altocumulus (Ac) - white and/or gray patch, sheet or layered clouds, generally
composed of laminae (plates), rounded masses or rolls. They may be partly fibrous or
diffuse and may or may not be merged.
5. Altostratus (As) - gray or bluish cloud sheets or layers of striated or fibrous clouds
that totally or partially covers the sky. They are thin enough to regularly reveal the sun
as if seen through ground glass.
6. Nimbostratus (Ns) - resulting from thickening Altostratus, this is a dark gray cloud
layer diffused by falling rain or snow. It is thick enough throughout to blot out the sun.
Also, low, ragged clouds frequently occur beneath this cloud which sometimes merges
with its base.
ES 3 METEOROLOGY

7. Cumulus (Cu) - detached, generally dense clouds and with sharp outlines that
develop vertically in the form of rising mounds, domes or towers with bulging upper
parts often resembling a cauliflower.
8. Cumulonimbus (Cb) - the thunderstorm cloud, this is a heavy and dense cloud in
the form of a mountain or huge tower. The upper portion is usually smoothed, fibrous
or striated and nearly always flattened in the shape of an anvil or vast plume.
9. Stratocumulus (Sc) - gray or whitish patch, sheet, or layered clouds which almost
always have dark tessellations (honeycomb appearance), rounded masses or rolls.
Except for virga they are non-fibrous and may or may not be merged.
10. Stratus (St) - a generally gray cloud layer with a uniform base which may, if thick
enough, produce drizzle, ice prisms, or snow grains. When the sun is visible through
this cloud, its outline is clearly discernible.

4. What are the types of precipitation and its physical properties?


Below are the five main types of precipitation and its physical properties:
1. Rain – is a precipitation that falls as liquid droplets from clouds and can occur
during any season depending on location and temperature. As the rain droplet falls, it
experiences drag from the air it is falling through and changes shape from spherical to
flat to a parachute-shape before it bursts into smaller droplets as the friction forced on
the center of the droplet becomes too much for the droplet to maintain itself. Rain
droplets begin to fall when the diameter reaches 0.5 mm and may split into separate
drops.
2. Snow – has a fluffy, white, and soft structure and its formation is in different shapes
and ways, namely flat plates, and thin needles. Each type of snow forms under
specific combinations of atmospheric humidity and temperature.
3. Sleet (Ice pellets) – form when snow falls into a warm layer then melts into the rain
and then the rain droplets fall into a freezing layer of air that is cold enough to refreeze
the raindrops into ice pellets. Hence, sleet is defined as a form of precipitation
composed of small and semitransparent balls of ice and they are smaller in size. sleet
(ice pellets) bounce when they hit the ground or any other solid objects and fall with a
hard-striking sound.
4. Freezing Rain – happens when rain falls during below freezing
conditions/temperatures. The raindrops are super-cooled while passing through the
sub-freezing layer in the atmosphere and freezes by the time it reaches the ground.
During freezing rains, it is common to witness an even coating of ice on cars, streets,
trees, and power lines. The resulting coating of ice is called glaze and it can build up
to a thickness of several centimeters.
5. Hail - are big balls and irregular lumps of ice that fall from large thunderstorms. Hail
is purely solid precipitation. Hailstones are mostly made up of water ice and measure
between 0.2 inches (5 millimeters) and 6 inches (15 centimeters) in diameter. This
ranges in size of a pea’s diameter to that larger than a grapefruit.
ES 3 METEOROLOGY

REFERENCES

Maguigan, M. & Robb, A. (2021) Precipitation Types and Examples Retrieved from
https://study.com/academy/lesson/precipitation-types-fromation.html
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (2017). What Are Clouds?
Retrieved from www.nasa.gov
National Weather System (NWS) (n.d) Ten Basic Clouds Retrieved from
https://www.weathr.gov/jetstream/basicten
Smith, M. (2018). What Are Clouds? Retrieved from https://sciencing.com/types-
clouds-kids-8294039.html
Sonia, M. (n.d) What is Precipitation and What are Different Types of Precipitation?
Retrieved from https://eartheclipse.com/science/geography/different-types-of-
precipitation.html

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