This PowerPoint presentation discusses various cloud formation processes and types of precipitation. It explains that adiabatic temperature changes can cause air to cool or heat without gaining or losing heat. Other lifting mechanisms covered include orographic lifting caused by air flowing over mountains, frontal wedging when dense cold air overrides warm air, and convergence when air flows together. The presentation also describes stability factors, condensation nuclei, and the main cloud classifications of high, middle, and low clouds. Different precipitation types such as rain, snow, sleet, hail and freezing rain are also outlined.

1. Clouds and Precipitation PowerPoint
By, Brittani Swavely

2. Adiabatic Temperature Changes and
Expansion and Cooling
• Adiabatic temperature changes are
temperature changes that even happen
even though the heat isn’t added or
subtracted.
• Dry adiabatic rate is the cooling or heating
in unsaturated air.
• Wet adiabatic rate is the rate of adiabatic
cooling in saturated air and always slower
then the dry adiabatic rate.

3. Orographic Lifting
• The air occurs when there are elevated
terrains, such as mountains, they act like
barriers to air flow, which forces the air to
ascend.

4. Frontal Wedging
• Fronts are boundaries between colliding
masses of the warm and cold air.
• Frontal Wedging is a process which occurs at a
front which is cold, dense air that acts as a
barrier which is warmer, less dense air rises.

5. Convergence
• It’s the lifting of the air that results from the
air in the lower atmosphere flowing together.
https://www.mete
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6. Localized Convective Lifting
• Occurs when there is unequal heating of the
Earth’s warms a pocket of the air more then
surrounding air, hen lowering the air pocket’s
density.

7. Stability (Density Differences &
Stability and Daily Weather)
• When there are most stable conditions
happen when the air temperature actually
increases with the height , is called
temperature inversion.

8. Condensation
• Condensation nuclei occurs in the air above
ground, with tiny bits of particulate matter.
• The surfaces serve as water-vapor
condensation.
• Examples: fog, dew or clouds.

9. Types of Clouds
• One type of cloud is Cirrus which are clouds high, white and
thin. These clouds can occur in patches or in like sheets or
extended wispy fibers often have a feathery appearance.
• Another type of cloud is Cumulus which are clouds that
consist of a rounded individual cloud masses. They usually
have a flat base and a appearance of rising domes or
towers.
• The third type of cloud is Stratus which is when these
clouds are described as sheets or layers that cover most if
not all of the sky. Can be minor breaks but, no distinct
individual cloud units.

10. High Clouds
• Three types of clouds that make up the
family, the three types are
cirrus, cirrostratus, and cirrocumulus.
• All of these types are thin, white and often
made up of ice crystals.
• Not considered precipitation makers.

11. Middle Clouds
• They appear in the middle range from about
2000-6000 meters.
• Altocumulus clouds are formed from rounded
masses that are different from cirrocumulus
http://braindanceis
awayoflife.blogspot.
com/2009/04/cloud
spotters-guide.html

12. Low Clouds
• There are three members in this family and
they are stratus, stratocumulus, and
nimbostratus.
• These clouds can produce light precipitation.
• Nimbostratus clouds form during good
conditions.
http://www.atmos.illinois.
edu/earths_atmosphere/c
louds.html

13. Clouds of Vertical Development
• Some clouds don’t fit into any category.
• They are all basically related to each other.
• Cumulonimbus clouds can produce rain
showers or thunderstorms.
http://www.pilotfriend.com/av_weather/mete
o/clouds.htm

14. Fog(by cooling and by evaporation)
• There is nothing different from a cloud an fog.
• The appearance between a cloud and fog are
the same.
• Fog can sometimes form on cool, clear , calm
nights when the Earth’s surface cools a lot by
radiation.
http://epod.usra.edu/bl
og/2006/03/advection-
fog-in-new-
hampshire.html

15. Cold Cloud Precipitation(Bergeron
process)
• Water that is in the liquid state below 0
degrees celeuis is told to be supercooled.
• Water that is supercooled will rapidly freeze if
it does touch a solid object.
http://photoblog.statesman.
com/author/rbarrera

16. Warm Cloud Precipitation (collision-
coalescence process)
• When the air is saturated which means 100%
relative humidity , respects to be water is
supersaturated with respect of the ice which is
greater then 100% humidity.
• Collision-coalescence is the theory of the
raindrop formation in warm clouds, which has
larger cloud droplets.
http://quizlet.com/1781977
/chp-18moisture-clouds-
and-precipitation-flash-
cards/

17. Rain and Snow
• The term rain mean drops of water that falls
from a clod.
• Snow is made up of individual ice crystals that
have six sides.
• The snowflakes are heavy and has high
moisture.
http://zahiym5tlc.e
dublogs.org/

18. Sleet , Glaze and Hail
• Sleet is small particles of ice.
• Hail produces from cumulonimbus clouds.
• Glaze can be known as freezing rain.
http://weathersavvy.co
m/A-Winter.html

19. The end