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Clouds

We see clouds nearly everyday. They float in 

the sky above us and block out the Sun. 

Sometimes clouds are white and puffy. 

Sometimes they are dark and cover the entire 

sky. Different kinds of clouds can mean 

different kinds of weather. Meteorologists 

study the formation and make up of clouds to 

understand the weather better.    

What are clouds made of?

A cloud is a large collection of very tiny droplets of 

water or ice crystals. The droplets are so small and 

light that they can float in the air. 

All air contains water, but near the ground it is usually 

in the form of an invisible gas called water vapor. 

When warm air rises, it expands and cools.

How do clouds form?

Most clouds form as warm air rises in the 

atmosphere and cools down. All air contains 

some water vapor and warm air can hold 

more water vapor than cold air. 

As warm air cools the water vapor turns into 

tiny droplets of water or ice. As more and 

more air cools down, more droplets form and 

they eventually become a cloud. 

Cloud Levels

Clouds are often described by the level or elevation 

where they form. There are high, middle, and low level 

clouds.

High - High level clouds form above 20,000 feet. 

Because it is colder higher up, these clouds are mostly 

made of ice crystals. High level clouds usually have the 

prefix "cirro" or "cirrus" in their name.

Middle - Middle level clouds form between 6,500 and 

20,000 feet high. They may be made up of water 

droplets or ice crystals. Medium level clouds usually 

have the word "alto" in their name.

Low - Low level clouds form below 6,500 

feet. They are often composed of mostly 

water droplets. Low level clouds usually have 

the word "stratus" in their name.

Vertical - Some clouds are vertical clouds. 

These clouds are very tall and may span 

many of the cloud levels. Vertical clouds 

usually have the word "cumulus" in their 

name.

Types of Clouds

Meteorologists combine cloud characteristics and levels 

to get the ten main cloud types:

High cloud - cirrus, cirrocumulus, cirrostratus

Middle cloud - altostratus, altocumulus, nimbostratus

Low cloud - stratus, stratocumulus

Vertical - cumulus, cumulonimbus

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