Why Do Clouds Look Flat On The Bottom

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Why Do Clouds Look Flat On The Bottom?

As warm air rises the water vapour remains invisible until the air cools enough for it to condense into water droplets. The altitude where that happens marks the bottom of the cloud. Providing that more air feeds in from below new cloud will form there and preserve the flat bottom.

What do flat clouds mean?

Stratus clouds are dull grayish clouds that often stretch across and block the entire sky stratus means “a layer” and these clouds form flat unbroken sheets like a fog that is not on the ground. Stratus clouds produce only mist drizzle or very light snow.

What clouds are fluffy and flat on the bottom?

Cumulus clouds those puffy clouds common in the sky during warm days especially in the summer are indeed flat-bottomed. It’s because of the way they form. They exist at the top of columns of warm air rising into the sky from the ground. Sunshine heats the ground and the ground heats the air above it.

What causes flat bottom?

A flat butt can be caused by a number of lifestyle factors including sedentary jobs or activities that require you to sit for extended periods. As you age your butt may flatten and lose shape due to lower amounts of fat in the buttocks.

What is the rarest type of cloud?

Nacreous clouds are some of the rarest clouds on the planet. They are a form of polar stratospheric cloud which is a main culprit in chemical destruction of the ozone layer.

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What do the clouds look like before a tornado?

A funnel cloud is usually visible as a cone-shaped or needle like protuberance from the main cloud base. Funnel clouds form most frequently in association with supercell thunderstorms and are often but not always a visual precursor to tornadoes.

What is it called when clouds are flat on the bottom?

You are referring to cumulus clouds (and to cumulonimbus). Cumulus clouds are indeed flat-bottomed because they ride atop currents of rising warm air (warmer than the air surrounding them).

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.

Why are rain clouds dark?

Clouds are visible accumulations of tiny water droplets or ice crystals in the Earth’s atmosphere. … When it’s about to rain clouds darken because the water vapor is clumping together into raindrops leaving larger spaces between drops of water. Less light is reflected. The rain cloud appears black or gray.

Why do clouds sometimes flatten at the top?

The cool shape that you see with the flat top is due to rising air in storms. The air expands and spreads out as the air hits the bottom of the stratosphere. The name anvil comes from its similar look to a tool that is used by metal workers. The air that rises from the anvil is cooler than the air of the stratosphere.

What clouds bring thunderstorms?

What are cumulonimbus clouds? Cumulonimbus clouds are menacing looking multi-level clouds extending high into the sky in towers or plumes. More commonly known as thunderclouds cumulonimbus is the only cloud type that can produce hail thunder and lightning.

What are GREY clouds called?

Altostratus clouds are gray or blue-gray mid-level clouds composed of ice crystals and water droplets. The clouds usually cover the entire sky.

Do birds fly through clouds?

Birds do fly inside clouds (and at night) especially migratory birds that have to fly non-stop for weeks or months. They cannot avoid flying at night (of course) and in several situations they cannot avoid flying towards a cloud.

Can waves touch the clouds?

There is no mention anywhere of even the highest recorded wave touching the clouds. Also the lowest level of clouds starts below only 6 500 feet. Judging by the height of the highest recorded wave if the waves rose to the clouds it could cause mass destruction in the nearby areas which was not the case here.

Can Planes crash into clouds?

It’s technically possible to fly inside clouds fog snow at night etc but this type of flight is regulated it requires technical elements both in the aircraft and on the ground and mandatory additional training for the pilot.

Is it a tornado if it doesn’t touch the ground?

If it does not reach the ground then it is called a funnel cloud. If it does reach the ground it’s a tornado. Debris and dust are kicked up where the narrow end of the funnel touches the ground. Tornadoes also called twisters are columns of air rotating dangerously fast.

Do scud clouds rotate?

Scud Clouds

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They form most often when cool moist wind meets the warm air ahead of a thunderstorm. Scud clouds are usually harmless. The key is rotation and scuds do not rotate.

Why does the sky turn green?

The sky looks blue because during the day particles in the air scatter more violet and blue light and our eyes are more sensitive to blue. … The right thickness of clouds combined with the right diameter of water droplets and the right time of day may produce the perfect combination to turn the sky a greenish color.

What are nimbus clouds?

A nimbostratus cloud is a multi-level amorphous nearly uniform and often dark grey cloud that usually produces continuous rain snow or sleet but no lightning or thunder. … Nimbostratus usually produces precipitation over a wide area. Nimbo- is from the Latin word nimbus which denotes cloud or halo.

Why do clouds look so fluffy?

When warm air rises from the ground it carries water vapor with it. When the water vapor meets the cold air found high in the sky the gas condenses to liquid and forms cumulus clouds. While these fluffy-white clouds look like soft pillows of cotton they are actually composed of small water droplets.

Do clouds have names?

Well clouds have names too! Some cloud names are cirrus cumulus and stratus. … “Names” can be for individual things or for groups of things (e.g. a cirrus cloud may be one individual cloud or it may refer to that group of cloud types.

Are clouds ice?

The water that makes up clouds is in liquid or ice form. … It’s only when that water vapor cools and condenses into liquid water droplets or solid ice crystals that visible clouds form.

What are the four families of clouds?

For identification purposes you need be con- cerned only with the more basic cloud types which are divided into four “families.” The families are: high clouds middle clouds low clouds and clouds with extensive vertical development.

Can a cloud freeze?

Ice nuclei are rare particles in the atmosphere that can cause cloud droplets to freeze and form ice crystals.

Why do clouds turn GREY?

When clouds are thin they let a large portion of the light through and appear white. But like any objects that transmit light the thicker they are the less light makes it through. As their thickness increases the bottoms of clouds look darker but still scatter all colors. We perceive this as gray.

How long does a cloud last?

The average lifespan of a cumulus cloud is less than one hour after which it either turns to a cumulonimbus cloud or tends to disintegrate.

Why does a thunderstorm have an anvil?

Anvil clouds which are mostly composed of ice particles form in the upper parts of thunderstorms. They get their anvil shape from the fact that the rising air in thunderstorms expands and spreads out as the air bumps up against the bottom of the stratosphere.

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What is the highest cloud ever recorded?

Noctilucent clouds

They are the highest clouds in Earth’s atmosphere located in the mesosphere at altitudes of around 76 to 85 km (249 000 to 279 000 ft).
…
Noctilucent cloud.

Noctilucent clouds
Noctilucent clouds over Kuresoo bog Viljandimaa Estonia
Abbreviation	NLC/PMC
Altitude	76 000 to 85 000 m (250 000 to 280 000 ft)
Classification	Other

Which country is the most likely place on Earth for a tornado to occur?

Geography. The United States has the most tornadoes of any country. Many of these form in an area of the central (with some definitions including Southern) United States known as Tornado Alley.

What force causes lightning?

Lightning happens when the negative charges (electrons) in the bottom of the cloud are attracted to the positive charges (protons) in the ground.

What creates lightning?

Lightning is an electrical discharge caused by imbalances between storm clouds and the ground or within the clouds themselves. Most lightning occurs within the clouds. … This heat causes surrounding air to rapidly expand and vibrate which creates the pealing thunder we hear a short time after seeing a lightning flash.

How heavy is a cloud?

A typical cloud has a volume of around 1km3 and a density of around 1.003kg per m3 – about 0.4 per cent lower than that of the surrounding air which is why they float. So cranking through the maths that means that a typical cloud weighs around a million tonnes.

What type of cloud is fog?

stratus clouds

Fog: Layer of stratus clouds on or near the ground. Different types include radiation fog (forms overnight and burns off in the morning) and advection fog.

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.