Clouds and Precipitation

By Ian Slavin

Adiabatic Temp. Changes

• This is about when air is allowed to cool, expand, and when compressed it begins to warm

• The rate of adiabatic rate of heating and cooling is basically unsaturated air that is called dry adiabatic rate

• The rate of the adiabatic cooling in a saturated is called wet adiabatic rate and it is slower than the dry adiabatic rate

http://www.bio.georgiasouthern.edu

Orographic lifting

• It occurs when the elevated terrains • An example, mountains that are like barriers

to the water flowing and to air flow making the air go up and over these mountains

http://www.sci.uidaho.edu

Frontal Wedging

• It is the boundary that is between crashing masses of warm and cold air

• Frontal wedging is a posses that which cold dense air is acts like a wall or barrier over warmer air is less dense

http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu

Convergence

• This is the lifting air that is an outcome of the air in the lower atmosphere flowing together

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu

Localized Convective Lifting

• This occurs when the unequal heating the earths surface and warms a pocked for air to move

• After that the surrounding air well make the pocked become less dense

http://www.richhoffmanclass.com

Stability

• In most of stable conditions it happens when air temperature really increases with height

Condensation

• In order for condensation to occur, the air must be saturated

http://keep3.sjfc.edu

Types of Clouds

• The clouds are classified by the basis on the form and height

http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/cloud3.html

High Clouds

• The high clouds are flat masses that are mostly made up of ice crystals

http://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov/SCOOL/high.html

Middle Clouds

• Middle clouds appear in the range of 2000 and 6000 meters

• Altocumulus clouds are made of rounded masses that are different

http://www.nevis.k12.mn.us/science/MeteorNotes.htm

Low Clouds

• Low clouds are the fog like clouds in the air that may sometimes give off light perspiration

http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/glossary.php?&letter=L

Clouds of Vertical Development

• Some clouds don’t fit into only one layer • It is based on the height and range • This is mostly associated with unstable air

http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/EarthSC102Notes/102Clouds.htm

Fog

• Fog has no difference from a cloud the only difference is that it is lower than the others

• The way these clouds become this way is because of radiation

Cold Cloud Precipitation

• The Bergeron process relies on two physical processes called supercooling and supersaturating

• In this process the water becomes to freeze at the 0 degrees Celsius and then starts to crystallize

http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect14/Sect14_1d.html

Warm Cloud Precipitation

• Much rainfall could be associated with clouds located well below the freezing temperature

http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect14/Sect14_1d.html

Rain and Snow

• This is rain drops of water that fall from clouds and is created by precipitation and the snow is made the same way but the temperature outside is the freezing point of water and it then turns into snow

Sleet Glaze Hail

• Sleet of clear small ice that is formed when air temperatures are above freezing

• Glaze is also know as freezing rain and it is formed when the temperature is below 0 degrees Celsius

• Hail is small pellets of rain that grow by collecting supercooled water droplets as they fall through a cloud