Eventually it becomes cool enough to turn back into water and a cloud forms, which we can see in the sky.Clouds are warmer than the surrounding air, meaning that they float because warm air is lighter than cool air.This is because when water vapour cools into water droplets a small amount of heat is released.All the main cloud types live in the troposphere; this is the lowest part of the atmosphere, closest to the ground.Above the troposphere is the stratosphere and above that is the mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.There are 10 different cloud types all given Latin names based on their shape and position, these are:These look like fluffy balls of cotton wool. As the sun heats water it turns into an invisible gas called water vapour, this is called evaporation. But all clouds look a little bit different from one another, and sometimes these differences can help us predict a change in the weather.

© 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- Depending on their type, clouds can consist of dry air mixed with liquid water drops, ice particles, or both.

Air temperatures tend to decrease the higher you go in the atmosphere.

Aside from sparking creativity, clouds serve several important scientific purposes, from helping meteorologists predict the weather to facilitating life on Earth.Clouds generally form within the troposphere, or the layer of atmosphere closest to the earth. It’s only when that water vapor cools and condenses into liquid water droplets or solid ice crystals that visible clouds form.So how does that water get up into the sky? Plants draw water through their roots, stems, and leaves by regularly letting water vapor and other gases out of the pores (tiny holes) in their leaves. Continuing to learn about weather on other worlds, they believe, will help us better understand—and predict—our own.The menacing, magnificent storm clouds of Wyoming come to swirling life in this time-lapse, "Stormscapes," by photographer Nicolaus Wegner.From heat waves and hailstorms to typhoons and tornadoes, our planet's weather can be intense. Called "cloudlets," the individual cloud mounds of cirrocumulus are much smaller than that of altocumulus and stratocumulus and often look like grains.

High - High level clouds form above 20,000 feet. The Science of Winter. This is because the pressure decreases as you go higher, allowing the air to spread out and become thinner and, therefore, cooler.Eventually, when the water rises to an elevation where the temperature is cool enough (the dew point, or point of saturation), it will start to condense into liquid form.However, the water vapor will not readily condense without help from other particles.So if clouds are liquid or solid water, why don’t they immediately fall out of the sky as rain or snow? Usually cumulus are found on calm clear days and indicate fair weather, but they can grow into towering thunderstorms given the right conditions.These are flat, grey, featureless layers which often sit low to the ground, hiding the clouds above. There are high, middle, and low level clouds. Stratus clouds appear as a thin gray layer in the sky. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/earths-atmosphere/clouds The air around us is partially made up of invisible water vapor. If the clouds get thick enough or high enough all the light above does not make it through, hence the gray or dark look. All clouds are made up of basically the same thing: water droplets or ice crystals that float in the sky. This makes them wonderful fodder for the imagination—at some point, hasn’t everyone looked heavenward and seen a fire-breathing dragon floating by? If they were, you wouldn’t be able to see them.

If the clouds get thick enough or high enough all the light above does not make it through, hence the gray or dark look. How do clouds form? All rights reserved.From giant puffs billowing toward the sun to thin wisps slinking past the moon, clouds come in countless shapes and sizes. High level clouds usually have the prefix "cirro" or "cirrus" in … Nimbostratus produces long lasting rain or snow that is light to moderate intensity. This allows the roots to take in more water from the soil. Cumulus clouds are a cloud-spotting favorite: They are big, white, and cottony and—depending on your imagination—may look like a bear, an apple, or any other familiar object. The water that makes up clouds is in liquid or ice form. If they were, you wouldn’t be able to see them.