Cloud

How do clouds form

We tell you how clouds are formed and the different types that there are. Enter and learn more about the protagonists that beautify the sky.

Kelvin clouds

The curious Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds

Have you seen any waves in the sky? These peculiar clouds are the Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds. They are very curious, so much so that they inspired the painter Van Gogh.

cirrus vertebratus

Cirrus clouds, curious as few

Cirrus clouds are the most curious. From children we see characters in them, and as adults we like to continue doing it. Enter to find out what types there are.

orographic cloud formation

How orographic clouds form

Pay close attention if you want to know more about those clouds that are created on top of mountains and that are known as orographic clouds.

Larger, longer-lasting storm clouds due to pollution

Most researchers thought that air pollution causes larger, longer-lasting storm clouds by making storm fronts more susceptible to air currents, and causing internal convection. In this study, he observed that pollution, as a phenomenon, makes clouds more durable but, in a different way than previously thought, by a decrease in the size of their ice particles and a decrease in the total size of the cloud. This difference directly affects the way scientists represent clouds in climate models.

cumulus humilis

How do the clouds dissipate?

There are factors that can intervene to cause the disappearance of water droplets or ice crystals from clouds such as heating of the air, precipitation and mixing with the drier surrounding air.

cumulonimbus

Cloud formation mechanisms

The various types of vertical movements that can lead to cloud formation are: mechanical turbulence, convection, orographic ascent, and slow, long ascent.

Cumulonimbus, storm cloud

The Cumulonimbus

According to the WMO, the Cumulonimbus are described as a thick and dense cloud, with a considerable vertical development, in the form of a mountain or huge towers. It is associated with storms.

Cumulus

The Cumulus

Cumulus clouds are vertically developing clouds formed mainly by vertical currents favored by the heating of the air at the Earth's surface.

The Stratus

Stratus are made up of small water droplets although at very low temperatures they can consist of small ice particles.

Overview of the nimbostratus

The Nimbostratus

Nimbostratus are described as a gray, often dark layer of clouds, with an appearance veiled by the precipitation of rain or snow falling more or less continuously from it.

altocumulus

The Altocumulus

Altocumulus are classified as medium clouds. This type of cloud is described as a bank, thin layer or layer of clouds composed of very varied shapes.

cirrocumulus

The Cirrocumulus

Cirrocumulus trees consist of a bank, thin layer or sheet of white clouds, without shadows, composed of very small elements. They reveal the presence of instability at the level at which they are.

cirrus

The Cirrus

Cirrus are a type of high cloud, usually in the form of white filaments made up of ice crystals.