1. Clouds and Precipitation
By: Katlyn Jeinnings

2. Adiabatic Temperature Changes and
Expansion and Cooling
• When compressed air, gas molecules increase the
temperature rises, expanding air pushes the surrounding air,
cooling an amount equal the energy used up.
• Adiabatic temperature changes results when air is
compressed and allowed to expand.
• The more you travel up through the Earth’s surface the fewer
gas molecules making air move upward causing it to pass
through regions with low pressure calling it the ascending air
expands and cools.

3. Orographic lifting
• As airflows goes up on the windward side of a
mountain makes it the rainiest place.
• As airflows down the leeward side of a
mountain makes it a rain shadow desert.
• When mountains act like barriers to airflow
that’s when Orographic lifting of air occurs.

4. Frontal wedging
• North America, masses is warm air and cold
air collide.
• North America the cooler, denser air acts as a
barrier over which the warmer, less dense air
rises.

5. Convergence
• Whenever air in the lower atmosphere comes
together is called convergence.
• When there is more airflows coming in more
then one direction it goes up.
• Convergence can cause cloud development
and precipitation

6. Localized Convective lifting
• The different air temperature is caused by the
unequal heating of Earth’s surface.
• The warmer and less dense then the
surrounding air will move upward.
• Rising partials of warm air are called thermals
which is localized convective lifting.

7. Stability (Density Differences and
Stability and Daily Weather)
• Volume of air was cooler then the surrounding
environment, would be denser, if allowed to
do it would sink to its original position.
• Air is less dense then the surrounding air it
will continue to rise until it reaches a
temperature equal to the soundings.
• When clouds have unstable air it will create a
thunderstorm.

8. Condensation
• Happens when water vapor in the air changes
to a liquid.
• In order for this to occur the air must be
saturated.

9. Types of clouds
• Three basic forms are cirrcus, cumulus, and
stratus and the other clouds reflect one of
these three or a combination of them.
• Cirrcus clouds you can barley see but there
stretched balls.
• Cumulus are clouds that look like really big
cotton balls.

10. High clouds
• High clouds are made up of ice crystals most
of the time.
• High clouds have ice crystals in them because
the low temperature and small quantities of
water vapor.

11. Middle clouds
• Are larger and denser
• Light snow or drizzle may occur with these
clouds

12. Low clouds
• There are three parts of a low cloud their
called stratus, stratocumulus, and
nimbostratus.
• Low clouds are gray/black and are clouds that
are going to rain really hard.

13. Clouds of vertical development
• Often extend upward in the middle or high
altitudes.
• Upward movement is triggered clouds with
great vertical range are formed

14. Fog (by cooling and by evaporation)
• Fog forms on cool, clear, calm nights when the
Earth’s air is cooling rapidly.
• When cool air meets warm water it makes the
top water evaporate making it into fog

15. Cold cloud precipitation
• Bergeron process is supper cooling and supper
saturation.
• The smaller the cloud droplets the bigger the
snow crystal gets.
• The bigger the snow crystal gets it will fall.

16. Warm cloud Precipitation
• Salt can remove water vapor from the air at
humitites less then 100 percent.
• The large droplets move through the cloud
and join together with smaller droplets.

17. Rain and Snow
• Rain droops of water falling from the clouds
with different shapes.

18. Sleet, Glaze, and Hail
• Sleet are small particles of clear ice.
• Glaze is freezing rain but when they hit an
object they turn into ice.
• Hail starts out as small ice pellets that when
collecting super cold water pellets make them
bigger.

19. THE END!!!!!!