What type are rain clouds

Weather prediction: Look out for rain, hail, and tornadoes! Stratocumulus clouds are patchy gray or white clouds that often have a dark honeycomb-like appearance. Weather prediction: Fair weather for now, but a storm might be on its way. Contrails are made by high-flying jet airplanes. They are still clouds, though, because they are made of water droplets condensed from the water vapor in the exhaust of the jet engines.

Weather prediction: Contrails can provide information about the layers of moisture in the sky. Mammatus clouds are actually altocumulus, cirrus, cumulonimbus, or other types of clouds that have these pouch-like shapes hanging out of the bottom.

The pouches are created when cold air within the cloud sinks down toward the Earth. Weather prediction: Severe weather might be on its way! Orographic clouds get their shape from mountains or hills that force the air to move over or around them.

They can also be formed by sea breezes and often appear as lines where two air masses meet. Weather prediction: An early sign that the conditions might be right to form afternoon thunderstorms! Lenticular clouds Lenticular clouds are shaped like lenses or almonds or They may get their shape from hilly terrain or just the way the air is rising over flat terrain. Weather prediction: None! Scientists have found that rapid growth and cooling at the tops of clouds are indicators of the potential for severe weather.

The ABI can show more detailed changes in cloud-top features, helping scientists assess the potential size and severity of a storm even before it reaches its peak!

Cirrus Cirrus clouds are delicate, feathery clouds that are made mostly of ice crystals. Cirrostratus Cirrostratus clouds are thin, white clouds that cover the whole sky like a veil. Vertically developing clouds are the Cumulus puffy type. However, as they develop vertically up they may go from small, fair weather clouds to large, boiling, vertically-growing monsters called cumulonimbus. Cumulonimbus are generally known as thunderstorm clouds.

High winds will flatten the top of the cloud into an anvil-like shape. Cumulonimbus are associated with heavy rain, snow, hail, lightning, and tornadoes. The anvil usually points in the direction the storm is moving. As the ceiling lowers you will see types of storm clouds in the following order:.

Cirrus Cirrostratus Altostratus Stratus Nimbostratus — storm clouds! Watch for cumulus puffy clouds that start to rapidly develop vertically up to become cumulonimbus thunderstorm clouds. On hot and humid days, these storms occur over water as the radiant heat from the land absorbs moisture from nearby water and rises to produce thunderheads.

This is an example of a cumulus cloud that is growing vertically up. The bottom of the cloud is made of water droplets and the top is made of ice crystals. Parts of the cloud roll in a circular motion, much like boiling water. To sum it up; flat clouds getting lower or puffy clouds getting higher — keep your eye out for a storm.

If you have a barometer on your boat check it every two to three hours. A rapid drop in pressure means a storm is approaching. Help the skipper by maintaining a watch for other boats and floating stuff in the water and by fastening down loose gear, hatches and ports. Set your VHF radio to your local weather channel and listen out for any storm warnings, put your life jacket on, and keep your bilge pump on standby.

You may be in for some heavy weather. I know the importance of being geared up for anything. I do the deep digital dive, researching gear, boats and knowhow and love keeping my readership at the helm of their passions. Categories : Boats , Camping. Easy to understand and remember. Thank you. Your email address will not be published.

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The 10 Best Boat Trailer Lights of How to Fish for Bass: Beginners Guide. They generally form from convection, with air parcels rising vertically into the atmosphere called updrafts and condensing into the puffy, cotton-like clouds that we all know and love. Typically, cumulus clouds are associated with pleasant weather where you can lie back on the grass and admire the sky.

Above: Fair weather cumulus clouds over a field Courtesy Wikipedia. If updrafts become stronger, those seemingly innocuous cumulus clouds may grow taller into what we call cumulonimbus clouds. These are the awe-inspiring and ominous clouds mainly observed during the summer months and can be indicative of developing thunderstorms, including lightning, hail, heavy rain and even tornadoes. The strongest thunderstorms can even produce cumulonimbus clouds that tower up to 60, feet!

Above: Textbook example of a towering cumulonimbus cloud Courtesy Wikipedia. Personally, stratus clouds are my least-favorite and I'm sure that likely goes for most people. These clouds, which look like a layer of gray blanketing the sky, are generally associated with wet conditions. They typically form when warm air is lifted over cold air, which allows the water vapor to condense rather uniformly, transforming the sky into a gray and dreary scene.

In fact, stratus clouds can last for days and bring cool temperatures, persistent rain, drizzle, or even snow. Above: Layer of stratus clouds Courtesy Wikipedia. Now on to my favorite type of cloud, cirrus clouds! Ever notice those high, thin and wispy clouds that usually make for beautiful sunsets?

Yep, those are cirrus. They develop very high up in the atmosphere and are actually made up of tiny ice crystals.

We can see cirrus clouds in a variety of scenarios including outflow from large scale storms, like nor'easters, tropical cyclones and even thunderstorm complexes.