This document discusses various mechanisms that cause clouds and precipitation to form, including adiabatic temperature changes, orographic lifting, frontal wedging, convergence, and localized convective lifting. It describes different types of clouds like cirrus, cumulus, and stratus clouds. It also covers topics like stability, condensation, high, middle and low clouds, clouds with vertical development, fog formation, cold and warm cloud precipitation processes, and types of precipitation like rain, snow, sleet, glaze and hail.

1. Clouds and Precipitation
By Haley Evans

2. Adiabatic Temperature Changes And
Expansion And Cooling
• The temperature will change even if the heat
is not added or going away
• Wet adiabatic is slower than dry adiabatic
• The cooling and heating is unsaturated air
which is called dry adiabatic rate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mammatus_c
louds_Milan_July.jpg

3. Orographic Lifting
• This is the first mechanisms that causes the air
to rise
• The mountains will act as barriers for the air
to flow
• The force will cause the air to go up.
http://free-screensavers-
backgrounds.com/category/bgs/clouds/

4. Frontal Wedging
• This is the second mechanism that causes the
air to rise
• The front is where the warm and cool air can
go
• Warmer air will rise
• http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/
magazine/17-10/st_clouds

5. Convergence
• This is the 3rd mechanism
• This is air that is lifting
• The air in the lower atmosphere coming
together
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud

6. Localized Convective Lifting
• This is the 4th mechanism
• Unequal air heats up more than the air that is
being surrounded
• The air only gets a portion of it
https://www.meted.ucar.edu/sign_in.php?go_
back_to=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.meted.
ucar.edu%252Ffire%252Fs290%252Funit11%25
2Fnavmenu.php%253Ftab%253D1%2526page
%253D5.1.0

7. Stability(Density Differences &
Stability and Daily Weather)
• Stable air stays where it is at
• None stable air sometimes rise
• When the air is most stable is when the air
temperature rises with the height
http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/3476/vi
ew

8. Condensation
• When there is dew, clouds, or fog the air has
to be saturated
• This happens in the air above the ground
• There must be a surface for water-vapor
condensation
http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/3476/vi
ew

9. Types Of Clouds
• The Cirrus cloud is high in the sky, has a white
color and the cloud is thin. The clouds will
appear to feel very soft.
• The Cumulus cloud are round and the base is
flat.
• The Stratus cloud covers the whole sky or
sometimes will cover most of the sky.
http://boatsafe.com/kids/weather1.htm

10. High Clouds
• There are 3 different types of clouds.
• They are Cirrus, Cirrostratus, Cirrocumulus.
• They are the same because they all have
crystals, their color is white, and the cloud is
thin.
http://www.bigbranch.net/high%20clouds.htm

11. Middle Clouds
• Middles clouds have a whitish or grayish color
to them.
• There are only two different clouds.
• There called’ Middle clouds’ because they are
2000-6000 meters apart.
http://www.beijinghikers.com/v2/resources/n
ews/hiking-photos-switchback-great-wall-
2009-12-16/

12. Low Clouds
• There are 3 different kinds of clouds
• They are Stratus, Stratocumulus, and
Nimbostratus.
• Nimbostratus is the cloud that’s the main one
that makes rain.
http://www.capetownskies.com/clouds-
low.htm

13. Clouds of Vertical Development
• Some of the clouds don’t even have the height
that they mentioned.
• All of the clouds are related and have the
same unstable air.
• Cumulonimbus clouds would make rain or
thunderstorms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud

14. Fog( By Cooling And By Evaporation)
• Fog and clouds are the same.
• When there is moist air it will become fog.
• When the warm air moves over warm water it
will evaporate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dense_Tule_f
og_in_Bakersfield,_California.jpg

15. Cold Cloud Precipitation (Bergeron
Process)
• Water that is liquid states below 0 degrees is
called’ super cooled’.
• The super cooled water will freeze when it
touches a solid.
• There are different levels of ice and liquid.
http://articles.pvsolarsalestraining.com/article
s.php?EffectsofHailonPVSolarPanels

16. Warm Cloud Precipitation( Collision-
Coalescence Process)
• When air is saturated to water, it is called ‘
supersaturated’.
• Warm clouds come together with large cloud
droplets.
• Then the cloud droplets come together with
smaller droplets and form raindrops.
http://www.frangardino.com/clouds/index.ht
ml

17. Rain and Snow
• When the surface temperature is 4 degrees
Celsius then snowflakes will melt.
• Then the snow turns into rain before it hits
the ground
• Six sided ice crystals will form when there is
low temperature
http://kohd.com/page/213587

18. Sleet, Glaze, and Hail
• Glaze is also freezing rain
• Sleet is transparent ice
• Hail will be produce in the Cumulonimbus
clouds
http://articles.pvsolarsalestraining.com/article
s.php?EffectsofHailonPVSolarPanels

19. The End!