1. Clouds & Precipitation

2. Saturation vs. Air Temperature The actual amount of Water air can hold changes With air temperature Air at 104 F can hold 3 times As much water as 68 F air ! (47 grams vs only 15 grams) Air at 68 F can hold 4 times As much water as air at 0 F (15 grams vs only 4 grams) 32 F 68 F 104 F 4 grams 15 grams 47 grams

3. Adiabatic Cooling: Clouds and Lifting Condensation Level (LCL) LCL / Cloud base = dew point altitude

4. CLOUDS A cloud is water vapor condensed around dust particles (condensation nuclei). At any given time, ~50% of Earth is covered by clouds and about 6% is having precipitation. The greater the amount of moisture in an air mass, the lower the level of condensation.

6. CONDENSATION > 0 o C = water droplets (lower levels) < 0 o C = ice crystals (upper levels) middle levels = mixture of ice and water

7. Type of cloud depends on… amount of moisture in the air degree of uplift atmospheric stability

8. NAMING CLOUDS 3 Basic types: Cirrus – curly or fibrous Stratus – means “layer”; flat and/or layered Cumulus – means “heap”; puffy or piled up The prefixes cirro (high), alto (middle) refer to the level in the atmosphere. The prefix nimbo means “rain-bearing”.

9. Lifting Mechanisms In order to make clouds, the air has to be lifted so that it will condense. Convection Frontal Cloud Orographic Uplift

19. Cumulus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:GoldenMedows.jpg

20. Stratus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:FrozenField-Stratus.jpg

21. Nimbostratus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nov20-05-Nimbostratus.jpg

22. Cumulus & Stratocumulus http://www.foundmyself.com/tutorials/text_clouds/clouds_original.jpg

23. Cirrus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_clouds

24. Cirrus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_clouds

25. Cumulus & Cirrocumulus http://www.bbc.co.uk/theoneshow/gallery/images/user_submitted/clouds/clouds7_450x340.jpg

26. Cirrostratus with halo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrostratus_cloud

27. Mammatocumulus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mammatus_clouds_Milan_July.jpg

28. Mammatocumulus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mammatus_Clouds.png

29. Lenticular

31. Iridescent Cloud http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071125.html

32. Cumulonimbus

33. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Anvil_shaped_cumulus_panorama_edit_crop.jpg

34. Cumulonimbus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CumulonimbusFlorida.jpg

35. ??? http://visualfunhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/mammatus_cloud_illusion-03.jpeg

36. ??? http://californiabirdwatching.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/fluffy-clouds-resize1.jpg

37. ??? http://www.tagbanger.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/lenticular-clouds.jpg

38. ??? http://anomalyblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/cloud2.jpg

39. Nacreous Noctilucent

41. ??? apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060329.html

42. Precipitation The type of precipitation that reaches the ground depends on processes in the cloud and temperatures between the cloud and the ground.

43. Precipitation Types / Properties

44. Global Precipitation

45. HAIL balls or chunks of ice (1cm-5 cm) grow due to downdrafts/updrafts in cumulonimbus clouds

46. Snowflakes and Temperature Snow crystal images from an electron microscope