| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cloud | If droplet or ice crystals are present in large enough numbers that they are visible as a whole, they are called this |
| Most clouds result from ___ ___ of ___ ___. | adiabatic cooling, moist air |
| Meteorologists classify clouds into ten basic categories bases on ___ and ___. | shape, height |
| Name the three high-level clouds. | Cirrus, circumulus, and cirrostratus |
| Name the three mid-level clouds. | Altocumulus, altostratus, and nimbostratus |
| Name the four low-level clouds. | Cumulonimbus, stratocumulus, cumulus, and stratus |
| Low-altitude clouds | Typically made of liquid water droplets or even super-cooled droplets, with the exception of thunderstorms and winter snowstorms |
| Cumulus ["a heap"] | White, billowy clouds that resemble cotton puffs with flat bases |
| Cummulonimbus (or thunderstorm cloud) | A grow up cumulus cloud that produces rains, winds, lightning, etc. |
| Stratus Clouds "to extend" "to stretch" | These clouds often form a flat, gray layer of heavy clouds not far above the ground |
| Stratocumulus "extended heaps" | The most frequent clouds, form a low, heavy layer of puffy gray clouds |
| Low altitude clouds extend from the ground to ___ ft. | 6500 |
| Mid-range clouds have bases between 6500 ft. and ___ ft. | 23,000 |
| High-level clouds have their bases at the___ ___ ___ ___. | top of the troposphere |
| Nimbostratus [extended cloud] | Look like stratus cloud but are much thicker blocking out any view of the sun or moon (sometimes classified as low level clouds) |
| Altocumulus "high heap" | Look like cumulus or stratocumulus clouds but appear smaller from the ground and have their bases at higher altitudes |
| Altostratus "high and extended" | Flat, sheetlike clouds that look similar to stratus clouds except they are a lighter color |
| Cirrus ["curl of hair"] | Most common type of high-level cloud made of ice crystals |
| "mares' tails" | What sailor's used to call cirrus clouds |
| Cirrocumulus "heaps of curls" | Least common type of high-level cloud that looks like tiny puffs of cotton in the upper troposphere |
| Cirrostratus "extended curls" | Thin, translucent clouds that spread like a sheet, similar to altostratus clouds |
| Lenticular "lens shaped" | Can be cirocumulus, altocumulus, or cumulus clouds often form above or around mountains |
| Contrails (short for condensation trails) or vapor clouds | Form when water vapor from an airplane's jet exhaust quickly condenses and freezes into crystals |
| Fog | Occurs when water vapor condenses in the layer of air near the ground (basically a stratus cloud on the surface of the earth) |
| Technically, a ground-level cloud is only fog if the visibility is less than ___ ___, otherwise it is ___. | one kilometer, mist |
| Radiation fog | Formed when the ground quickly radiates heat back into space and a thick layer of air near the ground cools below the dew point |
| ____ ___ is radiation fog that extends no more than 6 ft. above the ground. | shallow fog |
| ___ ___ is a radiation fog found in valleys. | valley fog |
| Advection fog | Forms when a warm, humid breeze blow over a cold surface |
| When an advection fog forms over cold ocean water it is a(n) ___ ___. | sea fog |
| Upslope fog | Often found along the slopes of mountains and can cover a large area for several days |
| Often, fog forms over lakes or rivers during the fall, when the water is still warm but the surrounding air is cool; this is ___ ___. | steam fog |
| Sometimes warm rain falling into cool air evaporates to produce ___ ___. | frontal fog |
| Freezing fog | If fog develops in air that is below freezing, the water droplets will become supercooled, resulting in this type of fog |
| Smog | A mixture of smoke and fog |
| Photochemical smog | A smog that is a thick, brownish haze that results from complex molecules released into the air by things like cars |
