Nimbostratus clouds are dark gray and thick enough to hide the sun completely. Unlike some other clouds, they don’t come in different shapes. You can’t look up at a nimbostratus cloud and guess what the shape of the cloud looks like – it just looks flat and gray, like a big cloud blanket over the whole sky.
Are nimbostratus clouds stable?
Nimbostratus clouds are produced by nearly thermodynamically stable air motions and are deep enough to allow precipitation particles to grow to the sizes of raindrops and snowflakes.
Where are stratocumulus clouds located in the atmosphere?
Stratocumulus clouds are typically 200–400 m thick and usually occur at the top of the boundary layer below a thermal inversion.
What causes altocumulus clouds?
Altocumulus clouds usually form by convection in an unstable layer aloft, which may result from the gradual lifting of air in advance of a cold front. The presence of altocumulus clouds on a warm and humid summer morning is commonly followed by thunderstorms later in the day.
Do clouds increase albedo?
Because a cloud usually has a higher albedo than the surface beneath it, the cloud reflects more shortwave radiation back to space than the surface would in the absence of the cloud, thus leaving less solar energy available to heat the surface and atmosphere.
Is fog a cloud?
Fog is a cloud that touches the ground. … Fog shows up when water vapor, or water in its gaseous form, condenses. During condensation, molecules of water vapor combine to make tiny liquid water droplets that hang in the air. You can see fog because of these tiny water droplets.
Do altostratus clouds rain?
Altostratus clouds are “strato” type clouds (see below) that possess a flat and uniform type texture in the mid levels. … However, altostratus clouds themselves do not produce significant precipitation at the surface, although sprinkles or occasionally light showers may occur from a thick alto- stratus deck.
What are fluffy clouds called?
Cumulus clouds look like fluffy, white cotton balls in the sky. They are beautiful in sunsets, and their varying sizes and shapes can make them fun to observe! Stratus cloud often look like thin, white sheets covering the whole sky. Since they are so thin, they seldom produce much rain or snow.
What are the four types of cloud?
The different types of clouds are cumulus, cirrus, stratus and nimbus.
What is the difference between cumulonimbus and nimbostratus clouds?
Nimbostratus clouds form a thick, dark layer across the sky. They are often thick enough to blot out the sun. Like cumulonimbus clouds, they are associated with heavy precipitation, but, unlike cumulonimbus, you can’t pick out individual nimbostratus clouds.
Do nimbostratus clouds produce thunderstorms?
They often grow into cumulonimbus clouds, which produce thunderstorms. Cold fronts can also produce nimbostratus, stratocumulus, and stratus clouds.
What clouds bring rain?
The prefix “nimbo-” or the suffix “-nimbus” are low-level clouds that have their bases below 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) above the Earth. Clouds that produce rain and snow fall into this category. (“Nimbus” comes from the Latin word for “rain.”) Two examples are the nimbostratus or cumulonimbus clouds.
Why are clouds white?
Clouds are white because light from the Sun is white. … But in a cloud, sunlight is scattered by much larger water droplets. These scatter all colours almost equally meaning that the sunlight continues to remain white and so making the clouds appear white against the background of the blue sky.
What do stratocumulus clouds look like?
Stratocumulus clouds are low-level clumps or patches of cloud varying in colour from bright white to dark grey. They are the most common clouds on earth recognised by their well-defined bases, with some parts often darker than others. They usually have gaps between them, but they can also be joined together.
How fast do altostratus clouds move?
Because of their height, they appear to move quite slowly; however, they actually are racing along at speeds between 100 and 200 miles per hour. Their appearance in the sky may indicate an approaching storm. CIRROSTRATUS clouds form as a transparent, whitish veil and may cover large portions of the sky.
How high do storm clouds go?
They can exist as individual towers or form a line of towers called a squall line. Fueled by vigorous convective updrafts (sometimes in excess 50 knots), the tops of cumulonimbus clouds can easily reach 39,000 feet (12,000 meters) or higher.
What do clouds feel like?
“Cotton wool, cotton candy, fluffy, cool, wet ….” A simple garden pond decoration that produces mist by forcing water through a very fine mesh, combined with a large shallow bowl of water, creates a cloud for children to feel.
Can we touch clouds?
Unfortunately, it does not feel like cotton balls or cotton candy, but most people have technically touched a cloud before. If you wanted to touch an airborne cloud, the best way to do this is either skydiving or in a hot air balloon, though I would not want to be stuck in a cloud while in a hot air balloon.
How can you tell the difference between clouds and fog?
The Short Answer:
Clouds and fog both form when water vapor condenses or freezes to form tiny droplets or crystals in the air, but clouds can form at many different altitudes while fog only forms near the ground.
How much do clouds cool the Earth?
The net effect of clouds on the climate today is to cool the surface by about 5°C (9°F). One can calculate that a higher surface temperature would result from the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent slowing of heat radiation from the surface, provided nothing else changes.
Do clouds use energy?
Low, thick clouds primarily reflect solar radiation and cool the surface of the Earth. High, thin clouds primarily transmit incoming solar radiation; at the same time, they trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and radiate it back downward, thereby warming the surface of the Earth.
Do low clouds have high albedo?
Because a cloud usually has a higher albedo than the surface beneath it, clouds reflect more shortwave radiation back to space than the surface would in the absence of the cloud, thus leaving less solar energy available to heat the surface and atmosphere.