What cloud is closest to Earth?

Stratus clouds are horizontal and stratified, or layered. Stratus clouds can blanket the entire sky in a single pattern. They usually occur close to the Earth.

What is the most common cloud on Earth?

What are stratocumulus clouds? Stratocumulus clouds are low-level clumps or patches of cloud varying in colour from bright white to dark grey. They are the most common clouds on earth recognised by their well-defined bases, with some parts often darker than others.

What is clouds to Earth's surface called?

Once the cloud gets heavy, they fall on the surface of the earth as rain, snow, or hailstones. This process is known as precipitation.

When clouds are close to the ground?

Fog is a kind of cloud that touches the ground. Fog forms when the air near the ground cools enough to turn its water vapor into liquid water or ice. There are many different types of fog, too.

Is there oxygen above the clouds?

At 70,000 feet, as indicated by radar, that's some 40,000 feet higher than the border of the troposphere (where 99.9% of, "weather" happens). There's certainly no oxygen up there to sustain life.

I caught a cloud on my paraglider ... and took it home!

What is Earth's rarest cloud?

What is asperitas cloud? Asperitas (formerly referred to as Undulatus Asperitas) is a distinctive, but relatively rare cloud formation that takes the appearance of rippling waves. These wave-like structures form on the underside of the cloud to makes it look like a rough sea surface when viewed from below.

What's the rarest cloud?

Noctilucent clouds - the rarest clouds in the world - have glowed like shimmering cobwebs in the sky over the San Francisco Bay Area, US and experts think they were likely the result of a rocket launch.

Has any human touched a cloud?

Unfortunately, it does not feel like cotton balls or cotton candy, but most people have technically touched a cloud before. If you wanted to touch an airborne cloud, the best way to do this is either skydiving or in a hot air balloon, though I would not want to be stuck in a cloud while in a hot air balloon.

Is there a black cloud?

Drs. Malcolm and Loyal: In nature, there is no such thing as a “Black cloud”. There are white appearing clouds on sunny days and gray appearing clouds on stormy ones.

What is the most beautiful cloud in the world?

Nacreous or mother-of-pearl clouds, spotted over Kells, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The mother-of-pearl colours of the stratospheric nacreous clouds make them one of the most beautiful formations. But there is a flip side to these pretty clouds.

What cloud can you not fly through?

Thus, cumulonimbus are known to be extremely dangerous to air traffic, and it is recommended to avoid them as much as possible. Cumulonimbus can be extremely insidious, and an inattentive pilot can end up in a very dangerous situation while flying in apparently very calm air.

What is the weirdest looking cloud?

Lenticular clouds are saucer-shaped clouds that form due to the motion of oscillating air. This phenomenon usually happens above or near mountain ranges, which cause disturbances in airflow patterns.

What is a toxic cloud?

In the event of an external disaster, which creates a significant risk of exposure to airborne contaminants (smoke, toxic vapours, biological agent, etc.)

What is the oldest cloud ever?

Astronomers have discovered the largest and oldest mass of water ever detected in the universe — a gigantic, 12-billion-year-old cloud harboring 140 trillion times more water than all of Earth's oceans combined.

What is the coldest cloud?

That is a Polar Stratospheric Cloud (PSC), also known as a nacreous or mother-of-pearl cloud. These clouds of ice crystals form in the very coldest reaches of the stratosphere over both poles in winter, at an altitude of 25-30 km.

Are rainbow clouds real?

A rainbow cloud can occur because of something called cloud iridescence. It usually happens in altocumulus, cirrocumulus, lenticular and cirrus clouds. Iridescent clouds happen because of diffraction – a phenomenon that occurs when small water droplets or small ice crystals scatter the sun's light.

What cloud looks like an alligator?

According to FOX Weather Meteorologist Geoff Bansen, this shape was created by a cumulus or a deck of stratocumulus clouds. According to the National Weather Service, stratocumulus clouds are low-level clouds below 6,500 feet and usually include layers of different clouds.

What is the rare rainbow in clouds?

While auroras occur when solar wind collides with atoms in the Earth's atmosphere, rainbow-coloured 'polar stratospheric clouds' (PSCs) are caused by tiny atmospheric ice crystals. So-called 'rainbow clouds' are a result of cloud iridescence caused by small water droplets or ice crystals diffracting the sun's light.

Why is it illegal to fly through a cloud?

If you were to end up skydiving into a cloud, you would be unable to see if it contained other skydivers/parachutes or aircraft. In order to eliminate unnecessary risk and to prevent in-air collisions, skydiving through clouds is not allowed.

Can clouds shake a plane?

These cloud-borne updrafts and downdrafts result in rapid and unpredictable changes to the lift force on the wings of an aircraft. More or less lift and the difference between these changes is what causes the aircraft to lurch and jump about during flight, or turbulence as it is called within the industry.

Will you get wet if you fly through a cloud?

Even walking through a storm cloud would hardly drench you (though it would depend on where you walk). For a comparison, each of your feet can produce up to a pint of sweat a day.

What is the fluffiest cloud?

Cumulus clouds look like fluffy, white cotton balls in the sky.

Which cloud is known as mother-of-pearl?

They are called nacreous clouds or polar stratospheric clouds and occur in the winter polar stratosphere (upper part of the atmosphere) at an altitude of 15-25km. The high clouds, which glow brightly with a variety of colours, have a similar appearance to mother of pearl – due to their iridescent nature.