Weather - Cloud types, Precipitation and lightning
(note the word "vapor") and go into the air. If the vapor rises high into the atmosphere, gets cold and then the molecules begin to stick together, condensation occurs and clouds form. If the clouds become saturated and can no longer hold the moisture, precipitation occurs in the form of rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, or hail. Condensation and precipitation occur on a glass with a cold drink on a humid day, resulting in a water ring on the table. There is a common misconception that the water gets on the side of the glass when the glass "sweats". I explain to my students that in order to sweat, water has to come out of something, (like their armpits!) water doesn't come out of the glass.
Another view of the Grand canyon fog
Wall clouds indicate an approaching system
A Sundog halo around my hand.
, water, and the atmosphere. The atmosphere goes up to 74 miles above the earth, however, the weather only reaches a maximum altitude of 9 miles. The water that we have on Earth is the same water that has been here since the beginning of time. I like to see the look on my students' faces when I tell them that the water they drink and swim in today is the same water that the dinosaurs drank and swam in! If they say, "Oooh, gross!" I tell them they had better never go to Mars or on an extended space mission! :)
Stratus clouds seen from above.
When I told my father that I would like to jump out of the plane and land in the clouds when I was little, he said, "If you really want to be in a cloud, go outside the next time we have a foggy morning, and you will be walking in a cloud!" Fog is simply a cloud that touches the ground. This photo was taken as we flew along the central coast of California in June 2006. Fog is a nearly daily event along the California coast during the summer because of the warm air inland and the cold, moisture-laden air over the ocean. The fog usually "burns off" around 10 AM then returns late in the afternoon.
We were amazed to see this spectacular view of fog in the Grand Canyon as we flew home from a Dec. 2004 ski trip in Utah. It looked as though the canyon was filled with swirling milk! The canyon has been cut through by the Colorado River over the past 6 billion years, slowly revealing the colorful layers of rock and fossils.
is an "icebow". It forms when the sun shines through the ice crystals of cirrus clouds at a specific angle. The crystals break up the white light of the sun into the spectrum - ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet). Sometimes a pale halo of light can be seen around the sun or moon when the light shines through the thin layer of ice crystals. Kenny and I spotted this one afternoon in mid-January 2007 on the way to Atlanta to John Shaw's nature photography workshop.
A sundog halo around the St. George Island Lighthouse in Florida.
are the pretty, white, puffy mid-level clouds that often seen on a warm summer day. Children like to look for shapes of animals in these clouds. By themselves, there is not enough moisture to produce any precipitation. White clouds ususally don't make rain or snow. These clouds form due to rising warm air which contains moisture (water vapor), as the water cools in the higher atmosphere, it condenses to form minute water droplets which can be seen as a cloud.
means "sheet-like", I tell my students to think of the sheet they sleep under on their bed, it is low, flat, and covers a lot of area like these clouds. Stratus clouds are usually no higher than a mile above the ground, but they can cover an entire state or even a large region of the country. They bring precipitation in the form of rain or snow.
I like this shot of downtown Chicago blanketed by fog, but it nearly caused us a lot of trouble. We managed to get a window of opportunity to land after circling for 45 minutes. Those little water droplets sure can cause a lot of problems!
We only went to the top of Grand Targhee ski resort in Wyoming one time, it was socked in by clouds (fog) and we could barely see. It is not fun trying to ski on a trail and having no idea what is ahead of you. It is pretty amazing when you realize that all this fog is just billions of tiny water droplets suspended in the air!
This was the most defined Sundog I have ever seen, how lucky I was to have my camera! This was taken on Feb. 23, 2007. Stormy weather was predicted for the following day.
is a "cloud" formed from the water vapor in the exhaust of a jet's engines high in the atmosphere. A thin, short-lived contrail indicates low-humidity air at high altitude, a sign of fair weather,
means that conditions are favorable for a storm; a storm warning means the storm has been spotted.
The Balsam Fir trees on Clingmans Dome in the Smokies were killed years ago by a combination of Wooly Balsam Adelgids and acid rain. Air pollution from coal-fired power plants creates nitric acid in the clouds, the change in pH affects the plants, animals and water in the area. This photo was taken the day after Tropical Storm Cindy came through in July 2005. Sadly, the air is seldom this clear in the summer.
A fisherman tries his luck along the foggy coast of Watsonville, CA. Fog horns are common along the coast to warn ships that land is nearby. We visited Half Moon Bay, CA on vacation in 1996. The motel where we stayed didn't bother to tell us that there was a fog horn right across the highway that blasted every 10 seconds 24/7, when we made our reservations! :(
means "hair curl" in Latin. These high, thin clouds can stretch for miles, thus the name "mare's tails". These clouds are found up to 7 miles high in the sky, where temperatures can be as low as -80 degrees F. Cirrus clouds are made of ice crystals, they do not make rain. This type of cloud can be a precursor to coming rain in 1 - 2 days, depending on the direction of the wind.
A close up of the Sundog. I wish it had been a full circle!
Thick, long-lasting contrails reflect humid air at high altitudes, they can be an early indicator of a storm.
. I hoped it wouldn't change too much beore I could run in and get my camera. Fortunately, it didn't!
Cumulus clouds as seen from the air. The vertical cloud in the middle has a strong updraft of warm air giving it much more height than the surrounding clouds. When I was growing up, my father worked for the airlines, so we flew fairly often. I remember once looking out at clouds like these and telling my father I'd like to jump out of the plane and bounce on the clouds!