Clouds

When water vapour rises high into the atmosphere, it may cool and condense to form clouds. Clouds are made up of very tiny droplets of water (or tiny bits of ice) floating high above the ground. There is no instrument that is used to measure how cloudy the sky is. However, you can look up and take a guess. Is it cloudy right now? The term cloud cover refers to the fraction of the sky that is covered by clouds.

Types of cloud

There are three main types of cloud. There are cumulus, stratus and cirrus clouds. These clouds are named based on the way they look. Let us look at each type.

Cumulus clouds are puffy looking clouds. A cumulus cloud looks like a fluffy piece of cotton floating in the sky. Look at the picture below.

Stratus clouds are large, flat clouds. A stratus cloud looks like a large sheet of clouds. Look at the photo below.

A stratus cloud can cover much of the sky like a large sheet.

Cirrus clouds are very thin and feathery looking clouds that form very high in the sky. Look at the picture below.

Cirrus clouds are thin and feathery. They look very different from other types of cloud.

Fun activity: Go outside and look up at the sky. What types of cloud do you see?