Other types of clouds, such as cumulus clouds, can also form above mountains too as air is warmed at the ground and rises.Ĭlouds also form when air is forced upward at areas of low pressure. The air cools as it rises, and eventually clouds form.

This process can also happen without a dramatic mountain range, just when air travels over land that slopes upward and is forced to rise. Some clouds, such as lenticular and stratus clouds, form when wind blows into the side of a mountain range or other terrain and is forced upward, higher in the atmosphere. Several types of clouds form in this way including cumulus, cumulonimbus, mammatus, and stratocumulus clouds.

Eventually, enough moisture will condense out of the air to form a cloud. As it rises, its pressure and temperature drop causing water vapor to condense. That warmed air starts to rise because, when warm, it is lighter and less dense than the air around it. Heated by sunshine, the ground heats the air just above it. Some clouds form as air warms up near the Earth's surface and rises. Eventually, enough water vapor condenses on pieces of dust, pollen, and other condensation nuclei to form a cloud. These particles, such as dust and pollen, are called condensation nuclei. It’s easier for water vapor to condense into water droplets when it has a particle to condense upon. The vapor becomes small water droplets and a cloud is formed. As air pressure drops, some water vapor condenses too. When air cools, some of the water vapor condenses. When air rises in the atmosphere it gets cooler and is under less pressure. Water vapor gets into air mainly by evaporation – some of the liquid water from the ocean, lakes, and rivers turns into water vapor and travels in the air. The water and ice that make up clouds travels into the sky within air as water vapor, the gas form of water. But how does the water and ice that makes up clouds get into the sky? And why do different types of clouds form? Water Vapor Evaporates Into the Air Clouds form when the air cools below the dewpoint, and the air can not hold as much water vapor.Ĭlouds are made of water droplets or ice crystals that are so small and light they are able to stay up in the air. As air rises it cools and decreases pressure, spreading out.

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