Why cumulus clouds have flat bases

As warm air rises, the water vapour remains invisible until the air cools enough for it to condense into water droplets. Providing that more air feeds in from below, new cloud will form there and preserve the flat bottom. The existing cloud is pushed upwards, forming a fluffy top. The cool shape that you see with the flat top is due to rising air in storms. The air expands and spreads out as the air hits the bottom of the stratosphere.

The name anvil comes from its similar look to a tool that is used by metal workers. However, it can change according to the situation and wind conditions. There are different factors that influence the speed of cloud movement.

For instance, at higher altitudes, the clouds tend to move faster than at lower levels. Towering cumulus, or cumulus congestus , may generate rain; they may also develop into the even larger, more energetic cumulonimbus.

Cumulonimbus clouds, sometimes called "thunderheads," are associated with thunderstorms, lightning and intense, heavy rains as well as hail. Jet aircraft can safely fly over thunderstorms only if their flight altitude is well above the turbulent cloud tops. If a busy jet route becomes blocked by intense thunderstorms, traffic will reroute into the neighboring airspace, which can become overcrowded if the flow is not managed see animation. Single-cell thunderstorm Such thunderstorms are most likely to occur in mid-summer and usually last no more than an hour.

They rarely produce severe weather. The whole process takes about one hour for an ordinary thunderstorm. Severe thunderstorms like supercells and squall lines are much larger, more powerful, and last for several hours. Fog is a cloud that touches the ground. Fog shows up when water vapor, or water in its gaseous form, condenses.

During condensation, molecules of water vapor combine to make tiny liquid water droplets that hang in the air. You can see fog because of these tiny water droplets.

Cirrus clouds are the highest of all clouds and are composed entirely of ice crystals. Cirrus clouds are precipitating clouds, although the ice crystals evaporate high above the earth's surface.

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As the air continues to rise, that first chunk of cloud gets pushed up as more cloud forms beneath, resulting in a cloud that's puffy on top but flat on the bottom. That level is called the lifting condensation level LCL or convective condensation level CCL , depending on the lifting mechanism. Meteorologists can predict where that level will be based on how hot and how humid it is, as well as the temperature and pressure.

If the conditions are just right, the little cumulus clouds grow into big cumulonimbus storm clouds, towering up through the troposphere. Usually, the atmosphere gets cooler and less dense as you get away from the surface, but at the tropopause there is an inversion, where the air gets warmer with height. This acts as a cap because the rising air is blocked by this layer of even warmer, more dense air it cannot get through — creating a flat top.

Sometimes the cloud gets pushed out to the side, causing an anvil at the top of the cloud, named after the blacksmith tool of trade. The tropopause is usually around 10 kilometres up, so it is only the big clouds that get the flat tops. Clouds come in all shapes and sizes, so keep looking up folks — there is a wonderous world to see out there. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.

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