Transcript CLOUDS, CLOUDS, and more CLOUDS

Weather and Clouds
 Meteorology: The study of the atmosphere
that focuses on weather processes and
forecasting.
Copyright © 2010 Ryan P. Murphy
What is weather?
Refers to the state of the atmosphere
at a specific time and place.
The one thing that you can talk to
anybody about
It affects your daily life- what to wear,
what activities you will be able to do,
etc.
How do we observe the weather?
 Using our senses
 Using instruments
4 factors affect the weather of an
area and how we measure them.
1. Temperature, the
measure of the
average amount of
motion in particles.
 Instrument:
thermometer
 2. Air pressure the amount of force exerted
on an area by the air molecules\
 Instrument: barometer
3. Wind movement of air from an
area of high pressure to an area of
low pressure.
Instrument: anemometer (speed)
and wind vane (direction)
 4. Humidity: The amount of water vapor
present in the air
 Instrument: hygrometer
Clouds can play a role in helping
forecasters predict changes in
the weather.
Clouds
What are clouds?
 Masses of small water droplets or tiny ice
crystals that float in the air.
How do clouds form?
 They form as warm
air rises upward,
expands, and cools.
 As the air cools, the
water vapor
condenses back into
a liquid
Formation continued…
 Water vapor forms tiny
liquid droplets around
small particles such as
dust and salt.
 These droplets of water
are so small that they
remain suspended in the
air.
 BILLIONS of these
droplets form a cloud.
Clouds can form and un-form
depending on moisture levels
 http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_scie
nce/terc/content/visualizations/es1803/es18
03page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization
Classifying Clouds
 Clouds are
classified mainly
by their shape and
height.
 Shape and height
vary with
temperature,
pressure, and the
amount of water
vapor in the
atmosphere.
Shapes of Clouds
Three main shapes are Stratus (layer/stretched out),
Cumulus (puffy), and Cirrus (wispy).
Stratus
– Form at low altitudes
– Associated with fair weather, RAIN, or
SNOW
– When air is cooled to its dew point near
the ground it forms a stratus cloud called
FOG.
Cumulus
 Masses of puffy, white clouds, often with flat
bases.
– They tower to great heights!
– Associated with fair weather or thunderstorms
– These are the type of clouds you make figures
out of.
Cirrus
 Appear fibrous, wispy, or curly.
– They are high, thin, white, feathery clouds made
of ice crystals.
– Associated with fair, sunny weather, but they
can sometimes indicate approaching storms.
Rain producing
 Not all clouds bring rain
 Clouds associated with rain or snow have
the word “nimbus” attached to them
 “nimbus” is Latin for “dark rain cloud”
 Thunderstorms are produced in towering
clouds called “cumulonimbus”
Height of clouds
 Prefixes help us also determine other types
of clouds.
– Cirro = high clouds
– Alto = middle level clouds
– Strato = low elevation
 Examples: Cirrocumulus: fluffy, high, cottontype clouds
 Cirrostratus: thin sheets,
high whitish layers of clouds
Height of Clouds
 Cirro- High
 Alto – Middle
 Strato- low
review
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWeorlkJ
39M cloud formation review
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGVV
qeJodR_ZJFROtwcepa5LOsMcuEJWX
http://media.wfyi.org/IndianaExpeditions/IDE
XSeason2_2009/IDEX205/IDEX205CloudinaBot
tleLesson.pdf
cloud in a bottle has them compare a
bottle with smoke added and one without
showing the cloud needs the smoke to form
GUESS the CLOUD!
Cirrus (high wispy)
Cirrocumulus (high and puffy)
Cumulus (puffy)
Cumulonimbus (puffy and rainy)
Altostratus (middle stretched out)
Nimbostratus (low rain cloud)
Stratocumulus (low and puffy)
Stratus (stretched out cloud
layer)
Altocumulus (middle level puffy)
Cirrostratus (high, wispy,
stretched out)
Making your own clouds

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-21034217
 A startled, ghostly
figure stands and
screams beneath a
swirling, fire-red sky.
 Edvard Munch’s
painting The Scream
is one of the most
iconic images from
art.
 Its haunting sky was
a real meteorological
phenomenon.
 In 1883, the eruption of the volcano
Krakatoa (Krakatu) spewed ash into the
atmosphere.
 Dust and ash in the stratosphere interfered
with sunlight and created dramatic sunsets
as far away as Northern Europe and the
United States one of which was depicted in
The Scream.
Weather inspired music
 http://www.weather.com/news/songs-andweather-20130201
 http://www.songfacts.com/categorysongs_with_weather_conditions_in_the_title
.php
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULvujTo
n5tU
 What are weather fronts
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Ewqm0Y
HUI#t=17
– Reading a weather map:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl_FFK_Hbj
Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIflLvYIn3U&feat
ure=autoplay&list=EC77ECE976316E5992&playnext
=1
Simple thermometer/barometer lab