Clouds

Please Note: All the cloud images on these pages are the copyrighted works of Bruce McMillan.  To learn more about this children's book author and photo-illustrator, please visit his web site at:
http://www.brucemcmillan.com/

Copyright 1991 by Bruce McMillan

Clouds are a major part of our weather. You may have even walked through a cloud, although you probably did not know it. Fog is a cloud that is on ground level. Clouds are a visible mist of billions of water and ice particles floating in the sky. Clouds form when air cools below its saturation point and causes water vapor to condense into tiny water droplets. The water droplets then form a cloud. The cooling is usually caused by by rising air, the way that the air rises effects the type of cloud that is produced. Please follow the links on this page to examine pictures of clouds and the type of weather that these clouds usually cause. The names of the clouds give a clue about shape of the cloud. There are three families of clouds: cirrus, cumulus, and stratus. These are the latin names given to clouds in 1804. Cirrus means 'curl of hair', cumulus means 'heap', and stratus means 'layer'. Clouds can also be classified by their altitude, whether they are located low, middle or high in the sky. The seasons also effect clouds. Clouds are always slightly lower in the sky during winter months, and higher during the summer.

Follow the links below to learn about each type of cloud, and view a picture of each.