Cloud Species?

You probably remember the last time your parents forcefully took you on a really really long road trip, one that was apparently so important that they couldn't possibly leave you behind (notice the sarcasm). And for once, instead of heading straight for your phone, you surprisingly chose to look out of the window at the outside world. Your attention then focus on the vast blue sky and you notice clouds, but not any clouds - a group of oddly shaped clouds, supposedly resembling an army of rabbits. Before long, your imagination has driven off into the wild and these rabbits are now chasing hippos!

Don't pretend this has never happened to you! But have you ever questioned what caused this chain reaction? Why do clouds have so many different shapes? Why aren't they just the round, stereotypical clouds that we always draw?

First we need to see how clouds are actually formed. Clouds form when saturated air can no longer hold anymore water vapour. This physical change occurs when either the total amount of water in the air has increased or when the air has finally cooled in temperature and reached its dew point (this is the 'point at which water vapour is cooled to form clouds'). But during the formation process, it is the variations in the conditions that result in the different cloud shapes.

The first variation is air temperature. The warmer the air, the quicker the air rises. This results in the clouds being formed higher up and more condensed. Consequently, the cooler the air the slower it rises so therefore the position of these clouds tend to be lower and stretched out.

The next variation is wind. Winds that are strong enough are able to pull apart clouds, which forms clouds that are wispy and stretched.

Air pressure also effects the shape of clouds, with a stronger air pressure forming the fluffier clouds higher in the sky and a lower air pressure forming less fluffy clouds, positioned in the centre due to the lack of pressure movement around them. 

As fun as clouds may be, the amazing story behind the formation of clouds has led to scientist creating a 'base formula of a cloud', which is ((((temperature - dew point) /4.5 ) *1000) +altitude). Furthermore the study of the  formation of clouds is also commonly used to explain certain weather patterns and predict future weather patterns.

So next time maybe you can appreciate the clouds for more than their resemblance to rabbits and hippos.

Jaya

Sources: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-clouds-have-different-shapes https://prezi.com/m/zud8nrtulxiz/why-are-clouds-different-shapes/