How deep is a cloud?

Average cumulonimbus clouds are around 1000 feet thick their dimension are in the order of several hundreds or thousands of feet.

How many feet do clouds sit at?

Low level clouds are generally based at or below 6,500 feet above ground, mid-level clouds are generally based between 6,500 feet and 15,000 feet above ground, and high level clouds are generally based more than 15,000 feet above ground.

Can a cloud reach the ground?

Some clouds are high up in the sky. Low clouds form closer to Earth's surface. In fact, low clouds can even touch the ground. These clouds are called fog.

How thick are Earth's clouds?

The agreement between the CALIPSO and CloudSat thicknesses is high for low-level clouds (< 3 km). At higher altitudes, CloudSat thicknesses are about 1-2 km thicker those from CALIPSO.

How heavy is a cloud?

Answer: Thus, a 'typical' fair weather cumulus cloud "weighs" about 1 billion 400 million pounds, or about 800 million pounds less than dry air of equal volume. Thats a lot of weight!

Hot Pixels - Give It To Me

Can we sit on a cloud?

You can NOT sit on a cloud they are made out of of very tiny droplets of water or ice crystals that form together to make a cloud. They are not dense enough.

How many gallons of water are in a cloud?

A large cumulus cloud that you might find on a nice summer day is made up of about 1 million pounds of water drops. A thunderstorm cloud contains enough water drops to fill up approximately 275 million gallon jars. That's about 2.3 billion pounds, or 1.1 million tons of water.

How fast do clouds move?

Depending on how fast the winds are blowing at the level of the clouds will determine how fast the clouds are traveling. High cirrus clouds are pushed along by the jet stream and can travel at more than 100 mph. Clouds that are part of a thunderstorm usually travel at 30 to 40 mph.

How far can the human eye see clouds?

How far can you see clouds on the horizon? If you're standing on level ground, in clear weather and with ample light, you can see clouds on the horizon from about 66 kilometers away.

Can a cloud be dense enough to walk on?

Where is there ever a cloud thick enough that you can sit on it? Nowhere. No matter how thick a cloud is, it is still mostly air, with a small portion of its mass consisting of microscopic water droplets or ice crystals. In order to stay in the sky, a cloud has to be about the same density as the surrounding air.

Can planes fly through clouds?

Moreover, the turbulence inside a cloud can become extreme and break apart an aircraft. Thus, it is extremely dangerous to fly inside such a system.

What holds clouds up?

Now our puzzle is complete: clouds are made up of tiny droplets of water, which are hardly affected by gravity, embedded in moist air, which is lighter than dry air. And they're surrounded by tiny warm blankets of air, which lift them up towards the sky.

What does touching a cloud feel like?

“Cotton wool, cotton candy, fluffy, cool, wet ….” A simple garden pond decoration that produces mist by forcing water through a very fine mesh and a large shallow bowl of water creates a cloud for children to feel.

How heavy is the heaviest cloud?

That is about 500,000 kilograms or 1.1 million pounds (about 551 tons). But, that "heavy" cloud is floating over your head because the air below it is even heavier— the lesser density of the cloud allows it to float on the dryer and more-dense air.

What is the purpose of clouds?

Clouds are the key regulator of the planet's average tem- perature. Some clouds contribute to cooling because they reflect some of the Sun's energy—called solar energy or shortwave radiation—back to space.

How many miles do clouds travel in a day?

The simple answer is, clouds can travel for hundreds of miles in one day, but it just depends on where they formed in the atmosphere. Low clouds can form as low as 5,000 feet, where other clouds, such as cirrus, form at 30,000+ feet. The altitude makes all the difference.

Can you see 50 miles away?

Ever stare out at the ocean? The farthest point you can see is about 3 miles out. 6 miles: The average 747 passenger plane flies at about 6.6 miles up in the air. 50 miles: On clear days, city buildings can be seen from 50 miles away (if you're standing on the ground).

Is there a limit to how far we can see?

The range of vision for a person is infinite. You can see for miles and miles. On a clear day, you can see for up to 3 miles before the horizon due to the curvature of the earth. Yet you can see skyscrapers in a further distance than 3 miles due to no horizon obstruction.

Are there clouds that we Cannot see?

Related to thin and wispy cirrus clouds, they consist of ice crystals in the upper atmosphere but can't be seen by the naked eye.

Why do clouds follow you?

Clouds move in response to the local winds. Although the air immediately around you may be still, the winds are far stronger thousands of metres higher up. That is why clouds are usually in motion, even on apparently windless days.

Is there wind above clouds?

Wind occurs at all levels of the atmosphere from the ground up to higher than a jumbo jet can fly. Sometimes there can be no wind on the ground, but cirrus clouds very high up can be seen moving because of the wind where they are.

Why do clouds turn GREY?

As the size and concentration of the hydrometeors increases, less and less sunlight penetrates the cloud, resulting in multiple scattering. We perceive these clouds as dark clouds in varying shades of grey.

How cold is the water in clouds?

When in small droplet form, liquid water must be cooled well below 0 ° C (32 °F) before freezing. In fact, under optimal conditions, a pure droplet may reach -40 °C before freezing. Therefore, there are areas within a cloud were ice crystals and water droplets co-exist.

Do clouds fill up with water?

Strictly speaking, a cloud does not fill up with water. First of all, a cloud is not a sponge made out of some other material which soaks up water. The water in a cloud is the cloud. More accurately, a cloud consists of very small liquid water drops or ice crystals suspended in air.

How much dust is in a cloud?

A human effect on cloud formation

They compared their results with analyses from the onboard mass spectrometer and found the two datasets revealed very similar cloud profiles: More than 60 percent of cloud particles consisted of mineral dust blown into the atmosphere, as well as metallic aerosols.