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Clouds & Precipitation. Chapter 11.3. A. Cloud Formation A cloud is a dense, visible mass of tiny water droplets or ice crystals that are suspended in the air. - Clouds form when the temperature of a parcel of air falls below the dew point temperature.
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Clouds & Precipitation Chapter 11.3
A. Cloud Formation A cloud is a dense, visible mass of tiny water droplets or ice crystals that are suspended in the air. - Clouds form when the temperature of a parcel of air falls below the dew point temperature. - Cloud formation requires some type of particle called a condensation nuclei (dust or salt crystal) in the air for the water vapor to collect on.
B. Classifying Clouds 1. Stratus - layered clouds 2. Cumulus - puffy, billowing clouds 3. Cirrus - thin, wispy clouds Prefixes / Suffixes Nimbo- (-nimbus) rain producing Alto- middle level clouds Photos from Wikipedia
C. Forms of Precipitation Rain, snow, sleet, and hail are most common. - Small water droplets in clouds coalesce (coalescence) to form larger drops which are too heavy to stay suspended in the air. - hail forms as an ice pellet is caught in the updraft of a thunderstorm and is coated with additional layers of liquid water which then freezes. - when the hail stone is too large for the updraft to carry it, it falls to the ground.
D. The Water Cycle - The continual movement of water between the Earth’s atmosphere and the Earth’s surface. National Weather Service