CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION S K MANOCHA

Classification of Clouds – The clouds are divided into ten basic types based on slight

modifications to the scheme provided by Luke Howard, an English naturalist in 1803.

These ten basic types are divided into four primary cloud groups –

a. High Clouds – 1. Cirrus (Ci), 2. Cirrostratus (Cs), 3. Cirrocumulus (Cc);

b. Middle Clouds – 1. Altostratus (As), 2. Altocumulus (Ac);

c. Low Clouds – 1. Stratus (St), 2. Stratocumulus (Sc), 3. Nimbostratus (Ns);

d. Clouds with great vertical development – 1. Cumulus (Cu), and 2. Cumulonimbus (Cb)

Note- the heights of the clouds in the three categories – low, middle, and high may have

their spatial and temporal variations. The types overlap, and cloud development

frequently is in a state of change, so that one type may evolve into another.

 High Clouds – are generally found above 6 km. Because of small amount of water

vapour and low temperature at such altitudes, these clouds are thin, white, and

composed of ice crystals; these high clouds often are harbingers of an approaching

weather system or storm.

 Cirrus - the most common high clouds are the Cirrus (Ci), which are thin, wispy

clouds blown by high winds into long streamers called mares’ tails; generally, point

to fair, pleasant weather.

 Cirrocumulus (Cc) – appear as small, rounded, white puffs that may occur

individually or in long rows; these clouds give “mackerel sky” appearance.

cirrostratus; moon and sun can be clearly seen through them; these produce a halo –

a ring of light that encircles the sun or moon.

 Middle Clouds - normally occur between 2 to 6 km; they may be either stratiform

or cumuliform; these are composed of water droplets and some ice crystals.

 Altocumulus (Ac) appear as grey, puffy masses, sometimes rolled out in waves or

bands; the appearance of these clouds on a warm, humid summer morning often

portends thunderstorms by late afternoon.

 Altostratus (As) is a grey cloud composed of ice crystals and water droplets; these

often cover the entire sky across an area; in the thinner section of the cloud, the

sun/moon may be dimly visible as a round disk (“watery appearance”); these often

form ahead of storms having widespread and relatively continuous precipitation; if

precipitation falls from an altostratus, its base usually lowers and if the precipitation

reaches the ground, the cloud is then classified as nimbostratus.

 Low Clouds – usually are below 2 km; they sometimes occur as individual clouds

but more often appear as a general overcast; these clouds often are widespread and

are associated with somber skies and drizzly rain; are almost always composed of

water droplets (however, in cold weather, they may contain ice particles and snow).

 Nimbostratus (Ns) – is a dark grey, “wet” – looking cloudy layer associated with

more or less continuously falling rain or snow; the intensity of this precipitation is

usually light or moderate; it is easily confused with the altostratus; since these lower

clouds drift rapidly with the wind, they form irregular shreds with a ragged

appearance that are called stratus fractus, or scud.

rounded masses with blue sky visible between the individual cloud elements; often

these appear near sunset as the spreading remains of a much larger cumulus cloud;

occasionally, the sun will shine through the cloud breaks producing bands of light

(called crepuscular rays) that appear to reach down to the ground.

 Stratus (St) – is a uniform greyish cloud that often covers the entire sky; normally, no

precipitation falls from the stratus, but sometimes it is accompanied by a light

drizzle.

Clouds with great vertical development – clouds of vertical development, grow

upward from low bases to heights of as much as 15 km; their horizontal spread is usually

very restricted; they indicate very active vertical movements in the air; the relevant types

are cumulus, which usually indicate fair weather, and cumulonimbus, which are storm

clouds.

 the puffy cumulus (Cu) cloud takes on a variety of shapes, but most often it looks

like a piece of floating cotton with sharp outlines and a flat base; cumulus clouds

that show only slight vertical growth are called cumulus humilis and are associated

with fair weather; therefore, these clouds are called “fair weather cumulus”; ragged-

edge cumulus clouds that are smaller than cumulus humilis and scattered across the

sky are called cumulus fractus; when the growing cumulus resembles a head of

cauliflower, it becomes a cumulus congestus, or towering cumulus (T cu);

precipitation that falls from a congestus is always showery.

 If a cumulus congestus continues to grow vertically, it develops into a huge

cumulonimbus (Cb) – a thunderstorm cloud; it grows from a low base (maybe 600

m) and its top may extend upward to the tropopause, over 12000 metres higher; it
 may occur as an isolated cloud or as part of a line or “wall” of clouds; there is a

tremendous amount of energy released by condensation; these clouds have

lightning and thunder.

Colur and Clouds

 When sunlight bounces off a surface at the same angle at which it strikes the

surface, we say that the light is reflected, and call this phenomenon reflection. There

are various constituents of the atmosphere, however, that tend to deflect solar

radiation from its path and send it out in all directions. The radiation reflected in this

way is said to be scattered. Scattered light is called diffuse light. When we look at a

cloud, it appears white because countless cloud droplets scatter all wavelengths of

visible sunlight in all directions. As a cloud grows larger and taller, more sunlight is

reflected from it and less light can penetrate all the way through it. In fact, relatively

little light penetrates a cloud whose thickness is 1000 metres. Since little sunlight

reaches the underside of the cloud, little light is scattered, and the cloud base

appears dark. At the same time, if droplets near the cloud base grow larger, they

become less effective scatterers and better absorbers. As a result, the little amount

of visible light that does reach this part of the cloud is absorbed rather than

scattered, which makes the cloud appear even darker. These same cloud droplets

may even grow large and heavy enough to fall to earth as rain.

 Clouds are also important because of their influence on radiant energy. They

receive both insolation from both above and terrestrial radiation from below, and

then either absorb, reflect, scatter, or reradiate this energy. The function of clouds

in the global energy budget is important.

Collision-Coalescence and Ice Crystal formation processes. The form that results depends

primarily on – temperature of air and its degree of turbulence. The main forms of

precipitation are:

1. Rain – It consists of drops of liquid water (0.5 mm to 6 mm in diameter). It is the most

common and widespread form of precipitation. Most rain is the result of condensation and

precipitation in ascending air that has a temperature above freezing, but some results from

the thawing of ice crystals as they descend through the warmer air.

 Meteorologists often make a distinction among “rain,” which goes on for a relatively

long time; “showers,” which are relatively brief and involve large drops; and

“drizzle,” which consists of very small drops and usually lasts for some time.

 Most of the rain that falls over middle latitudes results from melted snow that

formed from the ice-crystal process.

 Virga – Occasionally, the rain falling from a cloud never reaches the surface because

the low humidity causes rapid evaporation. As the drops become smaller, their rate

of fall decreases, and they appear to hang in the air as a rain streamer. These

evaporating streaks of precipitation are called virga.

2. Drizzle – a spray like rain (drops <0.5 mm in diameter). These fall at a slow pace. It is

generally associated with low and stratus clouds. It reduces visibility.

3. Snow – One of the solid forms of precipitation – ice crystals, small pellets, or flakes. It is

formed when water vapour is converted directly to ice without an intermediate water stage.
Snow is usually dry and powdery. It appears white as snow crystals reflect light in all

directions.

 When ice crystals and snow-flakes fall from high cirrus clouds they are called

fallstreaks. Fallstreaks behave in much the same way as virga. As the ice particles fall

into drier air, they usually sublimate (that is, change from ice into vapour).

Fallstreaks when moved horizontally by winds, appear as dangling white streamers.

 Blizzard is a weather condition characterized by low temperatures and strong winds

bearing large amounts of fine, dry, powdery particles of snow, which can reduce

visibility to only a few metres.

4. Sleet – In general, the term is applied to a mixture of rain and snow. In the US, sleet

refers to small raindrops that freeze during descent and reach the ground as small pellets.

 Sleet and Freezing Rain – As snow falls into warmer air, it begins to melt. As it falls

through the deep subfreezing surface layer of air, the partially melted snowflake or

cold raindrops turn back into ice, not as a snowflake, but as a tiny ice pellet called

sleet.

 When raindrops strike on a cold object, the drops spread out and almost

immediately freeze, forming a thin veneer of ice. This form of precipitation is called

freezing rain, or glaze. If the drops are small (less than 0.5mm in diameter), the

precipitation is called freezing drizzle.

 Glaze – Glaze is rain that turns to ice the instant it collides with a solid object.

Raindrops fall through a shallow layer of subfreezing air near the ground. Although

the drops do not freeze in the air (i.e. they do not turn into sleet), they become

supercooled while in this cold layer and are instantly converted to an icy surface

when they alight. This is a coating of ice which forms when rain falls on to a ground
 surface, the temperature of which remains below freezing-point. This thick coating

of ice makes both pedestrian and vehicular travel hazardous as well as breaks tree

limbs and transmission lines.

 When small supercooled cloud or fog droplets strike an object whose temperature is

below freezing, the tiny droplets freeze, forming an accumulation of white or milky

granular ice called rime.

 When a sheet of ice covering a road surface or pavement appears relatively dark, it is

often referred to as black ice. Black ice commonly forms when light rain, drizzle, or

supercooled fog droplets come in contact with surfaces that have cooled to a

temperature below freezing. Black Ice refers to the thin coating of transparent ice on

roadways, sidewalks and parking lots – it is hard to see, can build up quickly and is

extremely dangerous to both pedestrians and drivers.

5. Hail – The precipitation form with the most complex origin is hail. It consists of either

small pellets or larger lumps of ice. Hailstones are usually composed of roughly concentric

layers of clear and cloudy ice. The cloudy portions contain numerous tiny air bubbles among

crystals of ice, whereas the clear parts are made up of large ice crystals. Hail is produced in

cumulonimbus clouds as a result of vertical air currents. A hailstone normally continues to

grow whether it is rising or falling, providing it passes through portions of the cloud that

contain supercooled droplets.

 As the cumulonimbus cloud moves along, it may deposit its hail in a long narrow

band (often several kilometres wide and about 10 kilometres long). Known as

hailstreak.