Clouds: How They Form, Types, Water Cycle, Weather
This podcast details cloud formation, explaining how water vapor evaporates from water bodies, rises, cools, and condenses on condensation nuclei (like dust and pollen) to form water droplets or ice crystals. It covers various cloud types, categorized by height (high-level, mid-level, low-level), including Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus, Altocumulus, Altostratus, Nimbostratus, Cumulus, Stratocumulus, Stratus, and Cumulonimbus. The overview describes how clouds form due to air rising (from surface heating, over mountains, or at low-pressure systems) and the collision of air masses at weather fronts. It also connects cloud processes to the broader water cycle and weather patterns.
0.000000 6.000000 Welcome to everyday explained your daily 20-minute dive into the fascinating house and wise of the world around you.
6.000000 11.000000 I'm your host, Chris, and I'm excited to help you discover something new. Let's get started.
11.000000 18.000000 Have you ever found yourself just staring up at the sky, kind of mesmerized by all the different clouds rifting by?
18.000000 21.000000 Oh, absolutely. One day it's all fluffy cotton balls.
21.000000 26.000000 Yeah, exactly. And the next, they stretch out like a thin veil across the whole sky.
26.000000 34.000000 They're every single day, right? But have you ever really stopped to wonder what's actually going on inside them, what they are?
34.000000 35.000000 That's a great question.
35.000000 39.000000 Or, you know, why some look like a giant cauliflower?
39.000000 43.000000 Well, others are just heavy and dark and you just know it's going to rain.
43.000000 46.000000 Well, you're definitely not alone in wondering that.
46.000000 53.000000 And today, our mission for this deep dive is really all about unraveling those everyday sky mysteries.
53.000000 59.000000 We're going to sort of pull back the curtain on this surprisingly simple ingredients clouds need.
59.000000 61.000000 Simple. Okay. I'm intrigued.
61.000000 67.000000 Yeah. And then we'll get into the fascinating and actually quite varied ways they come into being.
67.000000 68.000000 Right.
68.000000 72.000000 And hopefully by the end, you'll be able to decode the different types you see.
72.000000 75.000000 Understand not just what they look like, but why they're at different heights.
75.000000 76.000000 Ah, the height thing. Yes.
76.000000 79.000000 It's like a shortcut to really understanding the skies above us.
79.000000 89.000000 Fantastic. And I know we've pulled together some really solid info for this from places like the Center for Science Education, NOAA, NASA JPL, good stuff.
89.000000 91.000000 Absolute top tier sources.
91.000000 92.000000 Okay. Let's unpack this.
92.000000 93.000000 Let's do it.
93.000000 97.000000 So let's kick things off with maybe the most basic question.
97.000000 99.000000 It almost feels like a riddle.
99.000000 103.000000 How does all that water and ice, because that's what clouds are made of, right?
103.000000 104.000000 Fundamentally, yes.
104.000000 109.000000 Tiny droplets or ice crystals. How does that stuff actually get into the sky?
109.000000 111.000000 I mean, water is usually down here with us.
111.000000 116.000000 Right. Well, it all begins with something invisible, water vapor, the gas form of water.
116.000000 117.000000 Okay.
117.000000 123.000000 And that water vapor mainly gets lifted into the atmosphere through evaporation, you know, from oceans, lakes, rivers.
123.000000 125.000000 The usual suspects make sense.
125.000000 133.000000 That's step one. And the core process really starts as that air carrying this invisible water vapor begins to rise.
133.000000 134.000000 Okay, it's going up.
134.000000 138.000000 And as it goes up, it cools down naturally, because there's less pressure higher up.
138.000000 140.000000 Less pressure, so it cools.
140.000000 146.000000 And this cooling is absolutely key, because it causes the water vapor to condense.
146.000000 153.000000 To change back from a gas into tiny liquid water droplets, or if it's cold enough, little ice crystals.
153.000000 155.000000 Condense, like dew on the grass.
155.000000 156.000000 Exactly like that.
156.000000 159.000000 The magic temperature where this starts happening is called the dew point.
159.000000 162.000000 The dew point, I've heard meteorologists talk about that.
162.000000 163.000000 Yeah, they use it all the time.
163.000000 168.000000 It's basically the temperature where the air just can't hold any more water vapor in its gaseous form.
168.000000 171.000000 So it says, okay, that's enough time to turn back into liquid.
171.000000 172.000000 Precisely.
172.000000 173.000000 Condensation begins.
173.000000 180.000000 It tells us exactly when that invisible vapor becomes visible as fog, or dew, or clouds.
180.000000 183.000000 Okay, so rising air cools hits the dew point.
183.000000 185.000000 Water vapor condenses.
185.000000 188.000000 But what is it condense on to? Does it just happen anywhere?
188.000000 192.000000 Good question, and this where it gets really interesting, and maybe a bit surprising.
192.000000 193.000000 Lay on me.
193.000000 198.000000 The unsung heroes here are microscopic things called condensation nuclei.
198.000000 201.000000 Condensation nuclei, sounds technical.
201.000000 202.000000 It does.
202.000000 205.000000 But think of them as tiny, tiny specks.
205.000000 210.000000 We're talking dust, pollen, smoke from fires, maybe bits of pollution.
210.000000 212.000000 Wait, so you're telling me clouds have dirt in them?
212.000000 213.000000 Huh.
213.000000 220.000000 Basically, yes, every single cloud droplet, or ice crystal, actually forms around a microscopic speck of something dust,
220.000000 222.000000 salts from ocean spray, so--
222.000000 223.000000 No way!
223.000000 225.000000 That's wild, so it needs a little helper.
225.000000 226.000000 It really does.
226.000000 228.000000 These nuclei are what we call hygroscopic.
228.000000 230.000000 It just means they attract water molecules.
230.000000 231.000000 Oh, hygroscopic, okay.
231.000000 237.000000 Yeah, they make it much, much easier for the water vapor to condense onto them, and form that initial tiny droplet.
237.000000 242.000000 Without these little specks, we'd have far fewer clouds, maybe none at all.
242.000000 247.000000 Wow, okay, so water vapor, cooling air, and tiny specks of stuff, got the ingredients.
247.000000 251.000000 But how does the air keep rising and cooling so consistently?
251.000000 254.000000 Right, that's where a bit of physics comes in the adiabatic process.
254.000000 255.000000 Adiabatic, okay.
255.000000 257.000000 Imagine a bubble, or like a parcel of air.
257.000000 260.000000 As this parcel rises, it moves into areas of lower atmospheric pressure.
260.000000 262.000000 Right, less pressure, higher up.
262.000000 265.000000 So the parcel expands, and here's the cool part.
265.000000 270.000000 The act of expanding itself makes the air cool down, even if no heat is exchanged with the air around it.
270.000000 272.000000 So just expanding makes it colder.
272.000000 273.000000 Exactly.
273.000000 277.000000 It's doing work to expand, which uses energy, and that cools it down.
277.000000 282.000000 We even have a rate for it roughly 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit drop, for every thousand feet it rises.
282.000000 284.000000 That's called the dry lapse rate.
284.000000 288.000000 And this continues until that air parcel cools all the way down to its dew point.
284.000000 284.000000 Okay.
288.000000 289.000000 Yeah.
289.000000 291.000000 Then it hits 100% relative humidity saturation.
291.000000 294.000000 And boom, condensation starts on those nuclei.
294.000000 299.000000 Yeah, a cloud drop is born, but the atmosphere isn't static.
299.000000 300.000000 It's always churning.
300.000000 305.000000 So these cloud droplets are constantly forming and evaporating, especially as drier air mixes in.
305.000000 311.000000 That's why clouds look so dynamic, always changing shape, growing, shrinking, sometimes they just vanish.
311.000000 312.000000 Yeah, I've seen that.
312.000000 313.000000 A cloud just fades away.
313.000000 314.000000 That makes a lot of sense now.
314.000000 315.000000 It's a constant process.
315.000000 317.000000 It really is a dynamic dance.
317.000000 322.000000 So if the basic ingredients are pretty much the same everywhere.
322.000000 326.000000 Water vapor, cooling, there's a little nuclei.
326.000000 329.000000 Why do we see such an incredible variety of clouds?
329.000000 332.000000 They don't all look like the same white puff, you know.
332.000000 334.000000 That's the perfect next question.
334.000000 338.000000 Because you're right, even with the same ingredients, the sky puts on such a diverse show.
338.000000 339.000000 Right.
339.000000 341.000000 It all comes down to how they form.
341.000000 346.000000 There isn't just one way, there are several different mechanisms, and these lead to the variety we see.
346.000000 348.000000 Okay, different formation methods.
348.000000 349.000000 Like what?
349.000000 351.000000 The most common is just surface heating.
351.000000 352.000000 Simple enough, right?
352.000000 353.000000 The sun shines, warms the ground.
353.000000 355.000000 And the ground heats the air right above it.
355.000000 356.000000 Exactly.
356.000000 360.000000 That warm air becomes lighter, less dense than the air around it, so it rises.
360.000000 361.000000 At the go.
361.000000 366.000000 And as it rises, it cools, adiabatically hits the dew point, and you get clouds.
366.000000 370.000000 Think of those classic puffy cumulus clouds on the sunny afternoon.
370.000000 371.000000 The cotton ball ones, yeah.
371.000000 372.000000 They often form this way.
372.000000 376.000000 So do the big towering cumulonibus thunderstorm clouds,
376.000000 382.000000 and even things like lumpy mamadas or sheet-like strata cumulus, all driven initially by that warm ground.
382.000000 385.000000 So that explains the big clouds on hot summer days.
385.000000 386.000000 Perfect sense.
386.000000 387.000000 What else?
387.000000 388.000000 What are the other ways?
388.000000 390.000000 Another big one is auregraphic lift.
390.000000 391.000000 Sounds fancy.
391.000000 392.000000 Auregraphic.
392.000000 393.000000 Mountain-related.
393.000000 394.000000 You got it.
394.000000 397.000000 It just means air being forced upward by terrain.
397.000000 401.000000 Mountains, hills, even just upward-sloping land.
401.000000 404.000000 So the wind just slams into the mountain and has to go up.
404.000000 407.000000 Pretty much the wind blows, hits the barrier.
407.000000 408.000000 The air is forced to rise.
408.000000 409.000000 It cools as it goes up.
409.000000 412.000000 And bam, clouds form on the windward side.
412.000000 414.000000 So mountains are like cloud factories?
414.000000 415.000000 They really are.
415.000000 418.000000 It's why one side of a mountain range can be super lush and green.
418.000000 422.000000 And the other side, the leeward side, can be practically a desert.
422.000000 423.000000 The rain shadow effect.
423.000000 424.000000 Precisely.
424.000000 429.000000 And you get specific clouds from this too, like those cool, lend-shaped, lenticular clouds,
429.000000 431.000000 that sometimes look like UFOs parked over a peak.
431.000000 435.000000 Oh yeah, the flying saucer clouds, I've seen pictures, they look unreal.
435.000000 436.000000 They do look pretty spectacular.
436.000000 437.000000 Yeah.
437.000000 441.000000 Then you also get cloud formation from low-pressure systems.
441.000000 443.000000 Okay, like on the weather map when they show a big L.
443.000000 445.000000 Exactly that L.
445.000000 449.000000 In those areas, wind spiral inwards towards the center of the low.
449.000000 451.000000 All that air converges.
451.000000 453.000000 And it has nowhere to go but up.
453.000000 454.000000 Right, it's forced upwards.
454.000000 455.000000 Right.
455.000000 459.000000 And as it rises over large area, it expands, cools, and you get widespread cloud formation.
459.000000 461.000000 Lots of types can form this way.
461.000000 467.000000 Out to cumulus, out to stratus, serochumulus, stratochumulus, stratus, often covering huge regions.
467.000000 470.000000 Okay, so lows mean rising air and often cloudy skies.
470.000000 471.000000 Generally, yes.
471.000000 475.000000 And finally, a really dynamic way clouds form is at weather fronts.
475.000000 478.000000 Ah, fronts where different air masses meet.
478.000000 479.000000 Exactly.
479.000000 482.000000 We're two large chunks of air with different temperatures and densities collide.
482.000000 484.000000 Let's take a warm front first.
484.000000 489.000000 Okay. Here, a warmer, lighter air mass slides up over a colder, denser air mass.
489.000000 491.000000 It's a gentler slope, a more gradual lift.
491.000000 492.000000 Like a ramp.
492.000000 493.000000 Kind of, yeah.
493.000000 497.000000 And as that warm air gradually rises, it cools and creates a whole sequence of clouds.
497.000000 501.000000 You might see high, thin, serious first, then maybe seroch stratus.
501.000000 503.000000 Then mid-level, all the stratus and altochumulus.
503.000000 506.000000 And eventually lower thicker clouds like nimbus stratus that brings steady rain.
506.000000 508.000000 Or even cumulonimbus.
508.000000 512.000000 So that explains why warm fronts often bring that long period of cloudiness.
512.000000 515.000000 And maybe drizzle or steady rain.
515.000000 517.000000 It's that slow, steady climb.
517.000000 519.000000 Precisely. It's a more gradual process.
519.000000 521.000000 Now, contrast that with a cold front.
521.000000 522.000000 Okay, what happens there?
522.000000 528.000000 Here, a dense, heavy, cold air mass acts more like a wedge, aggressively shoving under
528.000000 531.000000 and forcing the warmer air ahead of it rapidly upwards.
531.000000 533.000000 More like a bulldozer than a ramp.
533.000000 534.000000 Huh, exactly.
534.000000 536.000000 A bulldozer is a great analogy.
536.000000 541.000000 This abrupt, forceful lift often creates those vertically developing cumulus clouds
541.000000 546.000000 that can quickly explode upwards into massive cumulonimbus of the big thunderstorm clouds.
546.000000 552.000000 Ah, so cold fronts often mean more dramatic, maybe shorter bursts of weather, heavy showers, thunderstorms?
552.000000 553.000000 Very often, yes.
553.000000 554.000000 Yeah.
554.000000 558.000000 Because the lift is so much more vigorous, you can also get nimbus stratus, stratocumulus, and stratus
558.000000 559.000000 with cold fronts.
559.000000 563.000000 But that rapid rising motion is key for the really intense stuff.
563.000000 564.000000 Wow, okay.
564.000000 566.000000 Surface heating, mountains, lows, fronts.
566.000000 568.000000 No wonder clouds look so different.
568.000000 570.000000 It really depends on how that air got pushed upwards.
570.000000 571.000000 Exactly right.
571.000000 574.000000 And this variety isn't just random chaos, you know, there's a system to it.
574.000000 575.000000 A classification system.
575.000000 576.000000 Yeah.
576.000000 582.000000 The way we categorize clouds today actually has roots going back to the early 1800s with an amateur
582.000000 584.000000 meteorologist named Luke Howard.
584.000000 591.000000 He noticed clouds combine features like ciruses for wispy, cumulusus for heaped, stratus for layered.
591.000000 593.000000 He came up with those names.
593.000000 594.000000 He did.
594.000000 598.000000 And his basic system with some refinements led to what we use now.
598.000000 603.000000 The world meteorological organization's international cloud Atlas, it's the official global standard.
603.000000 605.000000 The ultimate cloud field guide.
605.000000 606.000000 Pretty much.
606.000000 609.520000 And it gives us the basic 10 cloud types, which are super helpful.
609.520000 612.000000 We usually group them by the altitude where they typically form.
612.000000 613.000000 Okay.
613.000000 614.000000 Let's hear them.
614.000000 615.000000 Start high.
615.000000 616.000000 Let's start high.
616.000000 617.000000 High level clouds.
617.000000 619.600000 These guys hang out above 20,000 feet, generally.
619.600000 623.000000 And up there it's freezing cold, so they're made entirely of ice crystals.
623.000000 624.000000 Just ice.
624.000000 625.000000 Okay.
625.000000 627.720000 Which means they're typically thin, white, often kind of wispy.
627.720000 629.720000 This is cirrus, often just called sea.
629.720000 630.720000 Cirrus.
630.720000 632.720000 They're really thin, feathery ones.
632.720000 633.720000 Exactly.
633.720000 638.720000 Detached, delicate white filaments they can look fibrous or silky, like brush strokes in the sky.
638.720000 640.720000 They're so thin the sun shines right through them.
640.720000 641.720000 Pretty.
641.720000 642.720000 Very.
642.720000 643.720000 And fun fact.
643.720000 650.720000 Seeing cirrus can often be the very first sign that a warm front and maybe rain is approaching.
650.720000 652.720000 Sometimes a day or more away.
652.720000 659.720000 Cirrus early warning system.
659.720000 660.720000 Kind of.
660.720000 661.720000 Yeah.
661.720000 663.720000 Then they're syrucumulus or zc's.
663.720000 664.720000 Zero cumulus.
664.720000 665.720000 Wispy and puffy.
665.720000 666.720000 Sort of.
666.720000 668.720000 Think thin white patches or sheets, but broken up into tiny ripples or grains, like fish scale
668.720000 669.720000 sometimes.
669.720000 670.720000 A mackerel sky.
670.720000 671.720000 I've heard that term.
671.720000 672.720000 Yeah.
672.720000 675.720000 The little cloud elements are really small, look smaller than your little finger held at
675.720000 676.720000 arm's length.
676.720000 679.720000 They're also ice crystals, often seen with cirrus.
679.720000 680.720000 Okay.
680.720000 681.720000 And the third high one.
681.720000 682.720000 Cirrus.
682.720000 687.720000 This is more of a transparent, whitish veil that can cover the whole sky.
687.720000 689.720000 It can look fibrous or really smooth.
689.720000 690.720000 A veil.
690.720000 692.720000 So you can still see the sun or moon through it.
692.720000 693.720000 Yes.
693.720000 695.720000 And they're thin enough that you might still cast a faint shadow.
695.720000 697.720000 But the big giveaway for cirrus stratus is the halo.
697.720000 699.720000 The ring around the sun or moon.
699.720000 700.720000 Exactly.
700.720000 704.720000 That halo is caused by the ice crystals and the cloud refracting the light.
704.720000 707.720000 If you see a halo, you're almost certainly looking at cirrus stratus.
707.720000 708.720000 I love spotting halos.
708.720000 709.720000 They feel kind of magical.
709.720000 710.720000 They hear pretty cool.
710.720000 711.720000 Okay.
711.720000 713.720000 Moving down a bit to the mid-level clouds.
713.720000 714.720000 Mid-level.
714.720000 716.720000 So not super high, not super low.
716.720000 717.720000 Right.
717.720000 720.320000 Typically between about 6,500 feet and 20,000 feet.
720.320000 722.080000 These are mostly made of water droplets.
722.080000 725.720000 But if it's cold enough, they can have ice crystals too, especially near the top.
725.720000 727.520000 And they have that alto prefix, right?
727.520000 728.520000 Two of them do.
728.520000 729.520000 Yeah.
729.520000 730.840000 Alto just means high.
730.840000 735.560000 But here it distinguishes them from their lower level cousins, like stratus and quimulus.
735.560000 737.560000 First up is alto-quimulus.
737.560000 740.280000 Alto-quimulus.
740.280000 741.280000 Mid-level puffy.
741.280000 742.280000 Kind of.
742.280000 743.280000 Yeah.
743.280000 746.440000 They're white or grayish, patches, sheets, or layers.
746.440000 749.560000 Often look like rounded masses, rolls, or waves.
749.560000 750.560000 Very common.
750.560000 751.560000 Okay.
751.560000 754.880000 Sometimes they can create a corona, a smaller colored ring, blue inside, red outside, right
754.880000 756.360000 around the sun or moon.
756.360000 760.680000 Their individual puffs look bigger than cirro-quimulus between one and three fingers wide at arms
760.680000 761.680000 length.
761.680000 764.360000 Usually it means fair weather, but maybe some instability.
764.360000 765.360000 Gotcha.
765.360000 766.360000 And the other alto.
766.360000 767.360000 Alpha stratus.
767.360000 768.360000 Alpha stratus.
768.360000 771.400000 This is more of a grayish or bluish sheet that can cover the whole sky or large parts of
771.400000 772.400000 it.
772.400000 773.920000 Like a thicker veil than cirro-stratus.
773.920000 774.920000 Exactly.
774.920000 779.240000 It's usually thick enough that the sun looks like you're seeing it through ground glass, just
779.240000 780.480000 a hazy bright spot.
780.480000 784.160000 You won't get a halo with alto stratus, and usually no shadows on the ground.
784.160000 785.760000 So a bit duller looking.
785.760000 786.760000 Can be.
786.760000 787.760000 Yeah.
787.760000 791.360000 But seeing alto stratus thickening is often a really good sign that steady rain or snow
791.360000 794.480000 is on the way, maybe within six to twelve hours.
794.480000 795.480000 Ah.
795.480000 796.480000 Okay.
796.480000 798.720000 So maybe not exciting to look at, but important for forecasting.
798.720000 799.720000 Very important.
799.720000 803.640000 Sometimes you see verga falling from them too, streaks of rain that evaporate before they
803.640000 804.640000 hit the ground.
804.640000 805.640000 Verga.
805.640000 806.640000 Ghost rain.
806.640000 807.640000 Huh.
807.640000 808.640000 Yeah.
808.640000 809.640000 Pretty much.
809.640000 811.920000 And then there's one more mid-level cloud, though it's base can lower.
811.920000 812.920000 Nimbo stratus.
812.920000 813.920000 Nim.
813.920000 814.920000 Nimbo.
814.920000 815.920000 That means rain, right?
815.920000 816.920000 It sure does.
816.920000 817.920000 Nimbo stratus is the rain cloud.
817.920000 820.880000 It's a dark gray, often gloony looking layer.
820.880000 824.240000 It looks diffuse because rain or snow is continuously falling from it.
824.240000 826.160000 A kind that just settles in for today.
826.160000 827.160000 That's the one.
827.160000 829.960000 It's thick enough to completely blot out the sun.
829.960000 835.520000 You often see lower ragged clouds called scud drifting below its main base.
835.520000 839.680000 And while its base might lower into the low levels when precipitation is heavy, the cloud
839.680000 842.840000 itself is thick, extending well up into the mid-levels.
842.840000 843.840000 Sometimes even higher.
843.840000 844.840000 Okay.
844.840000 846.760000 So that's the real grab the umbrella and stay inside cloud.
846.760000 847.760000 Definitely.
847.760000 848.760000 All right.
848.760000 849.760000 Finally, down to the low-level clouds.
849.760000 850.760000 Below 6,500 feet.
850.760000 851.760000 Closer to home.
851.760000 852.760000 Yeah.
852.760000 856.760000 We're almost always made of water droplets, though cumulonimbus is a big exception because
856.760000 858.480000 it grows so tall.
858.480000 861.000000 First, the one everyone knows, cumulus, cool.
861.000000 864.160000 The puffy cotton ball, fair-weather clouds.
864.160000 865.160000 That's them.
865.160000 870.680000 Depatched dense clouds with sharp outlines that grow vertically, like mounds or towers often
870.680000 871.680000 look like cauliflower.
871.680000 872.680000 Yeah.
872.680000 876.720000 Sunlit parts are brilliant white, bases are relatively flat and darker.
876.720000 880.480000 Overland, you see them pop up in the morning as the ground heats up, maybe grow a bit, then
880.480000 882.560000 often fade away by evening.
882.560000 883.840000 Usually they mean good weather.
883.840000 885.320000 The ones you look for shapes in.
885.320000 886.320000 Exactly.
886.320000 893.600000 But sometimes those fair-weather, cumulus clouds keep growing and become cumulonimbus, key.
893.600000 894.840000 The king of clouds, you might say.
894.840000 895.840000 The thunderstorm clouds.
895.840000 896.840000 That's it.
896.840000 897.840000 Heavy, dense, massive.
897.840000 900.440000 Looks like a mountain or a giant tower.
900.440000 901.440000 Yeah.
901.440000 903.840000 Often develops that characteristic flat-spreading top called an anvil.
903.840000 904.840000 Right.
904.840000 905.840000 The anvil shape.
905.840000 906.840000 Way up high.
906.840000 907.840000 Way up high.
907.840000 909.840000 Often reaching into the high levels composed of ice crystals up there.
909.840000 910.840000 Yeah.
910.840000 914.120000 Very dark, often with those ragged scud clouds underneath.
914.120000 915.680000 And these produce the works.
915.680000 921.840000 Heavy rain, lightning, thunder, hail, strong winds, some things tornadoes.
921.840000 922.840000 Definitely demand respect.
922.840000 923.840000 Be sure.
923.840000 924.840000 Not one to mess with.
924.840000 925.840000 Okay.
925.840000 926.840000 Two more low ones.
926.840000 927.840000 Two more.
927.840000 928.840000 Stratocumulus.
928.840000 929.840000 A seasheet.
929.840000 931.120000 These are grayish or whitish patches, sheets, or layers.
931.120000 935.440000 They often have a lumpy or rounded look, sometimes like rolls or a honeycomb pattern.
935.440000 939.280000 So like cumulus, but more spread out and join together.
939.280000 940.920000 That's a good way to think about it, yeah.
940.920000 945.240000 The individual lumps or rolls look larger than alticumulus, whiter than three fingers held
945.240000 946.600000 in arm's length.
946.600000 950.920000 They might produce light drizzle, but usually not much precipitation, often seen on partly
950.920000 951.920000 cloudy days.
951.920000 952.920000 Okay.
952.920000 953.920000 And the last one.
953.920000 954.920000 Stratus.
954.920000 958.360000 This is basically a featureless gray layer, kind of like fog that hasn't reached the
958.360000 959.360000 ground.
959.360000 960.360000 It has a uniform base.
960.360000 961.360000 It's gray.
961.360000 962.360000 Often.
962.360000 963.360000 Yeah.
963.360000 966.600000 It can produce light drizzle or freezing drizzle or sometimes snow grains if it's cold
966.600000 967.600000 enough.
967.600000 971.600000 If the sun is visible through it, you can usually see its outline clearly, unlike with
971.600000 972.600000 altistratus.
972.600000 973.600000 Okay.
973.600000 978.160000 And here's that fun fact again, fog is just a stratus cloud.
978.160000 983.600000 Its stratus that has formed right at or very close to the earth's surface.
983.600000 984.600000 Mine blown.
984.600000 986.320000 Fog is a cloud I can walk through.
986.320000 987.320000 Exactly.
987.320000 992.320000 So if we sort of connect all this back, we've gone from invisible water vapor and these
992.320000 997.320000 tiny, tiny specks of dust or salt all the way to these majestic, incredibly varied
997.320000 999.520000 cloud forms that we see.
999.520000 1002.920000 Understanding how they form the rising air, the mountains, the fronts, and then knowing
1002.920000 1004.440000 these basic types.
1004.440000 1007.080000 It really does deepen your appreciation for whether it doesn't.
1007.080000 1008.080000 It really does.
1008.080000 1010.520000 So what does this all mean for you, listening right now?
1010.520000 1013.480000 Well, next time you look up, you won't just see clouds.
1013.480000 1014.480000 Hopefully not.
1014.480000 1018.440000 You'll see maybe, oh, that looks like out-of-pumulus or, yep, that's definitely cumulonimbus
1018.440000 1019.440000 building up.
1019.440000 1021.400000 You'll have an idea of how it got there.
1021.400000 1022.400000 Was it heating?
1022.400000 1023.400000 A front?
1023.400000 1027.280000 And maybe just maybe you'll be able to make a much better guess about what kind
1027.280000 1029.000000 of weather might be coming.
1029.000000 1032.600000 Feel a little bit like a sky detective.
1032.600000 1034.680000 Like that sky detective.
1034.680000 1037.200000 So here's a thought to leave you with.
1037.200000 1041.240000 Now that you know a bit more of the science, what new things will you notice when you look
1041.240000 1042.240000 up?
1042.240000 1043.760000 And this is really cool.
1043.760000 1046.720000 Did you know you can actually help out real NASA scientists?
1046.720000 1048.680000 Oh, yeah, the Globe Observer app.
1048.680000 1049.680000 Exactly.
1049.680000 1054.360000 There's an app called Globe Observer and you can use it to report the clouds you see.
1054.360000 1058.760000 For observations, help scientists double check what their satellites are seeing from space.
1058.760000 1060.480000 It's actual citizen science.
1060.480000 1063.160000 You're contributing just by looking up and recording what you see.
1063.160000 1064.160000 How cool is that?
1064.160000 1067.320000 Imagine helping NASA just by cloud watching.
1067.320000 1072.760000 So we really hope this deep dive encourages you to keep that curiosity going, keep observing,
1072.760000 1074.600000 and definitely keep looking up.
1074.600000 1077.600000 And that wraps up today's episode of Everyday Explained.
1077.600000 1081.080000 We love making sense of the world around you five days a week.
1081.080000 1085.200000 If you enjoyed today's deep dive, consider subscribing so you don't miss out on our next
1085.200000 1086.200000 discovery.
1086.200000 1088.200000 I'm Chris and I'll catch you in the next one.