What Are Clouds Continued

The three differences in high, medium and low clouds are:

• High clouds are curly looking and made of ice.
• Medium clouds usually look like huge puffs of cotton. These are the clouds that you can see animals and other objects in.
• Lower clouds are usually stretched out or layered and cover the entire sky. When rain falls from them, they're called nimbostratus clouds.

There's a lot more to know about clouds but these are the basics. Mad Scientist has put together a few sites that will put you on cloud nine. You'll find them at the bottom of this article.

Did You Know...?

Clouds fly higher during the day than during the night.
Pink mother-of-pearl clouds can be found very high (about 80,000 ft or 24 kms.) These clouds are very thin and can usually be seen before sunrise or after sunset. The clouds are lit by the Sun, which is below the horizon.
The winds inside cumulonimbus clouds can reach a speed of 124 miles per hour (201 kms) - about as fast as most express trains.
Sunbeams that shine down through clouds are called crepuscular rays.

Mad Scientist's Top Five Sites:

spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/ - A fun site that's easy to understand.
www.wrh.noaa.gov -How clouds got their name.
www.gfdl.noaa.gov/ - Some general information on clouds.

Have Your Say

Tell us your cloudy day stories. What have you seen in the clouds? Comment below!

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