What happens when cumulus clouds form?
What happens when cumulus clouds form?
All cumulus clouds develop because of convection. As air heated at the surface is lifted, it cools and water vapour condenses to produce the cloud. Throughout the day, if conditions allow, these can grow in height and size and can eventually form into cumulonimbus clouds.
What are the characteristics of cumulus clouds?
- Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as “puffy”, “cotton-like” or “fluffy” in appearance.
- Cumulus clouds are often precursors of other types of clouds, such as cumulonimbus, when influenced by weather factors such as instability, moisture, and temperature gradient.
What does reflectivity mean in weather?
“Reflectivity” is the amount of transmitted power returned to the radar receiver after hitting precipitation, compared to a reference power density at a distance of 1 meter from the radar antenna.
What type of precipitation does cumulus clouds produce?
Almost all rain is produced from low-level clouds. Stratus clouds produce steady rains, and cumulus clouds produce intense, stormy precipitation. Mid-level clouds can tip you off to the potential for these precipitation-producing cloud types to develop and may even produce an occasional sprinkle themselves.
How do you identify a cumulus cloud?
Cumulus clouds are puffy and can look like floating cotton. The base of each is often flat and may be only 330 feet above ground. The top has rounded towers.
What type of cloud is cumulus?
Cumulus clouds are puffy clouds that sometimes look like pieces of floating cotton. The base of each cloud is often flat and may be only 1000 meters (3300 feet) above the ground. The top of the cloud has rounded towers.
What does reflectivity mean in weather radar?
One of the important parameters measured by weather radar systems is the reflectivity of the precipitation targets in the volume of atmosphere being observed. Reflectivity is defined as simply “a measure of the of the fraction of radiation reflected by a given surface; expressed as a ratio of…
Why is the radar reflectivity of a thunderstorm splotchy?
Some thunderstorms are discrete (completely separated from other areas of precipitation), while other thunderstorms organized into lines and clusters of storms. Either way, the “splotchy” nature of the radar reflectivity is the hallmark of convective precipitation that formed in an unstable environment.
What parameters are measured by weather radar systems?
One of the important parameters measured by weather radar systems is the reflectivity of the precipitation targets in the volume of atmosphere being observed.
What type of clouds form in an unstable environment?
Clouds forming in such unstable environments are of the cumulus variety, which as you may recall, means “heap cloud.” Cumulus clouds are “heap clouds,” and have a bubbly, or billowy appearance.
