By: Matthew Gahman

Adiabatic Temperature Change

• Adiabatic temperature change is when the temperature changes without heat being added or subtracted

• This happens by air being compressed or the air being expanded

Orographic Lifting• Is when mountains or high ground act as wind

barriers• As the air/ wind goes up the side of the

mountain it cools it off creating precipitation and clouds

• by time the wind gets to the other side the moister is mostly gone on its decline it puts off warm air

Frontal wedging

• Is when cold and warm air collide with each other becoming a front

• This creates the warm air to flow right over the cold air

• These fronts can create a middle cyclone storms

Convergence

• Is when air in the lower atmosphere flow together

• It happens when air flows from more than one direction an the only place the air can go is up

Localized Convective Lifting

• Is when unequal heating occurs on the earths surface creating warm air pockets

• The warm pockets of air will rise above the other because it is less dense when that happens it is called a thermal

• Thermals are great for hawks to hunt pray and even good for hang gliding

Stability Density Differences

• Stable air stays the same while the unstable air tends to rise

• Clouds wont form in stable air conditions

condensation

• Air must be saturated to form• Saturation happens when air is cooled to its

dew point

Types of Clouds

• Cirrus clouds are described as a curl of hair and are high and thin in the atmosphere

• Cumulus clouds are rounded individual masses• Stratus is a layer or sheet

High clouds

• Cirrus, cirrostratus and cirrocumulus make up the high cloud family

• Often made up of ice crystals making thin and white clouds

• High clouds do not create precipitation

Middle clouds

• Altocumulus clouds are composed of rounded masses that are larger and denser then cirrocumulus clouds

• Middles clouds range from 2000-6000 meters in the atmosphere

• Infrequent light snow or drizzle may occur in this area

Low clouds

• Stratus, stratocumulus, and nimbostratus make up the low cloud family

• Light precipitations are created by nimbostratus clouds

• Stratus that develops a scalloped bottom are called stratocumulus clouds

Clouds of vertical development

• The more movement and acceleration creates a more vertical range

Fog

• Fog is a cloud with a base at or near the ground

• Fog can be produced by moisture from the sea that moves over land

• Moisture evaporates as cool air moves over warm air

Cold cloud precipitation

• The Bergeron process relies on super cooling and saturation

• Ice crystals cannot exist with water droplets

Warm cloud precipitation

• Collision-coalescence process forms raindrops in clouds

• Water absorbing particles remove water vapor from the air

• As droplets move through the clouds that join with smaller droplets

Rain and Snow

• The type of precipitation depends on the temperature in the atmosphere

• When temperatures are above 4˚C snowflakes melt and continue as rain

• A temperature more then -5˚C ice crystals come together in clumps

Sleet, Glaze, and Hail

• Sleet is small particles of clear ice• Glaze (freezing rain) occurs when raindrops

are super cooled as they fall• Hailstones begin as small ice droplets that

get bigger as they collect super cooled droplets

The end