Cloud Types for Kids

We see clouds thousands of times in our day-to-day life, some are fascinated by their color, while others are amazed by their shape and size. There are even some who wonder why are clouds white, while some wonder how would it feel to touch them. Although most of us have had fascination for clouds some or the other time in life, we hardly know much about them. Basically, a cloud is nothing but a visible mass of droplets or frozen crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the Earth's surface.

Different Types of Clouds

It is no unknown fact that there are various kinds of clouds. For kids to understand this topic in its entirety, it becomes very important that they take an active interest in clouds and cloud formations at a young age. There are several different types of clouds, broadly categorized on the basis of their height, shape, size, structure, etc. Below we have compiled a list of cloud types, for kids and younger teens to be able to easily understand this phenomenon.

High Level Clouds
Clouds which appear approximately 20,000 ft above the surface of the Earth are referred to as high level clouds. Owing to the freezing temperatures at the height where they exist, these types of clouds mostly consist of ice crystals. Generally these thin clouds are white in color. High level clouds are further divided into two groups - cirrus clouds and cirrostratus clouds.

Cirrus Clouds
Cirrus clouds are mostly found at height of around 20,000 ft or more from the surface of the Earth. They are composed of ice crystals which originate due to the freezing temperature at this elevation. Most often observed in fair weather, they are seen pointing towards the direction where wind is flowing.

Cirrostratus Clouds
Cirrostratus clouds are high level clouds characterized by their sheet like appearance. They are composed of ice crystals as well. These types of clouds are formed when large-scale convergence lifts a broad layer of air to great elevations. Although they do cover the entire sky, their semi-transparent nature helps the sun and the moon to peek through them with immense ease.

Mid Level Clouds
Clouds which appear between the heights of 6,500 to 20,000 feet above the surface of the Earth are referred to as mid level clouds. Because of their relatively low altitude they are most often formed of water droplets, but at times, especially the clouds appearing on the higher end of demarcated location for mid level clouds, are composed of ice crystals like high level clouds. Present at about an average of 15000 ft above the Earth's surface are cumulus clouds. For kids, cumulus clouds can be distinguished by their tendency to be in a group and their color, usually light gray. Mid level clouds are further categorized into two groups - altocumulus clouds and altostratus clouds.

Altocumulus Clouds
Altocumulus clouds are mostly characterized by a shaded portion which makes them distinguishable from other cloud types. Generally, they sport an appearance of parallel bands or rounded masses. The gradual lifting of air on the wake of cold fronts form a convection in an unstable layer aloft, which eventually leads to formation of altocumulus clouds.

Altostratus Clouds
Altostratus clouds are normally characterized by a uniform gray sheet that is darker than cirrostrtus but lighter than nimbostratus clouds. They most often appear at an elevation between 8,000-20,000 ft. Although they tend to cover the whole sky, their semi-transparent nature allows sunlight to pass through them. These clouds, made up of ice crystals, have the capacity to produce light precipitation.

Low Level Clouds
Clouds which appear below an altitude of 6500 ft are known as low level clouds. These clouds are made up of water droplets, but when the temperatures are very low they are known to contain ice particles or snow. Low level clouds are further divided into two groups - stratocumulus clouds and nimbostratus clouds.

Nimbostratus Clouds
Nimbostratus clouds are dark low level clouds which have the capability to produce light to moderate precipitation. Their bases lie at an altitude of around 2000 ft, due to which they are mainly composed of water particles. However, low temperature can lead to formation of ice particles or snow in them which may result in precipitation in form of snowfall in that particular area.

Stratocumulus Clouds
Stratocumulus clouds are low level clouds appearing at an altitude of as low as 2000 ft. These clouds, which appear in form of rounded masses, normally range from light gray to dark gray in color. These cloud types have the capacity to produce precipitation ranging from weak to light or moderate in intensity.

Other types of clouds include vertically developed clouds such as fair weather cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds, as well as contrails formed due to the injection of water vapor into the atmosphere by exhaust fumes from jet engines, and orographic clouds which develop as a result of the forced lifting of air on the various topographic structures on the planet.

Cloud Formations for Kids

Besides cloud types, for kids to understand this subject, cloud formations also play an interesting role. Clouds are formed when air containing water vapor is cooled beyond the dew point, and the moisture in the air condenses into droplets which settle on microscopic particles - referred to as condensation nuclei - suspended in the atmosphere. Other reasons for formation of clouds include reduction of pressure upwards, and mixing of warm and cold air currents.

This was brief information about the various cloud types, for kids to understand. Also important to note is that the study of cloud types and weather predictions tend to go hand in hand. For instance, presence of altocumulus clouds on a warm and humid summer morning is ideally a sign of thunderstorms later in the day.

More importantly, studying about the various cloud types, for kids is an important activity that would enable then to learn while they have fun. Being aware about the various cloud types can help your child to have his own homemade weather station and become a neighborhood meteorologist.