Clouds, fog

and
precipitation
What are we learning today?
●
How clouds are formed
●
Factors affecting cloud formation
●
Cloud classification and recognition
●
Why do we study clouds? Dangers and
flying issues
●
Fog, formation and dissipation
●
Precipitation: how it appears, types and
dangers associated
 Warming up
UNIVERSAL GAS LAW FORMULA
Pressure x Volume
------------------------- = CONSTANT
Temperature

Adiabatic: no added or lost heat during the process.

This means that the amount of energy the parcel of air posseses
remains unchanged
Latent heat
Stability of an airmass
●
DALR 3ºC/1000 ft (fixed value)
●
SALR 1,5ºC/1000 ft (decreases with
altitude)
●
ELR (variable)
A warm air mass can hold more water than a cold
air mass.

The greater the temperature of an air mass for the

same amount of water, the lower the relative
humidity.

Dewpoint ``remains constant´´ with temperature.

It depends more on the amount of water than on T
(by definition)
Brief front information
 How clouds are formed?
Clouds are formed when the water inside a
parcel of air becomes saturated.

1)Rising parcel of air expands, cools and leads to saturation

2)An increase in humidity from an external source

3)A fall in temperature resulting in the inability of the parcel

of air to hold anymore water
Uplift formation of clouds
●
Convection
●
Frontal uplift
●
Relief/orographic
●
Turbulent mixing
●
Cyclonality/convergence
Convection
Frontal uplift
Orographic uplift
Turbulent mixing
Cyclonality/Convergence
How do we predict cloud
formation? Spread:
difference
between
dewpoint
and actual
temperature
Cloud formation doesn´t depend on temperature but
on difference of temperature.
Height of clouds depends on many things, not only
spread: height at wich lifting occurs, humidity,etc...

(Temperature – Dew Point) x 400 = Lifting Condensation

level (base of clouds.
Trigger temperature
Cloud classification
10 types of clouds
 0-6.500 ft

6.500 ft – 23.000 ft

16.500 ft – 40.000 ft
Inversions: clouds worst enemy
The base of the temperature inversion sets
the limit to the top of the clouds.
They prevent convective clouds turning
them into stratus and also limit the tops of
cumulonimbus. That´s why clouds are
limited to the troposphere and no further
beyond.
 Fog, mist and haze
Fog (FG): less than 1000 m visibility (called
shallow fog if deepens less than 2 m/6ft)
Mist (BR) and Haze (HZ): between less than 8 km
but more than 1000 m
Conditions
Very low spread
Cooling of the mass of air
Stable atmosphere, no upward movement,
no wind (5 kt or less)
Types of fog
●
Radiation (only on land)
●
Advection (land or sea)
●
Steam fog/arctic fog (warm air into cold air
from below)
●
Frontal fog
●
Orographic fog
Radiation fog
Cooling of air due to heat loss of land
during the night
●
High pressures and stable atmosphere
●
No cloud coverage
●
Occurs mainly after sunrise (solar inertia)
●
Few in thickness (1000 ft)
●
Disperses with oncoming heat
Advection fog
●
Land or water
●
Horizontal movement of an air
mass
●
Found in front of warm fronts
●
Thicker (3000 ft) and last longer,
difficult to dispers
Frontal/Mixing and Orographic
fog
Precipitation
Cloud is a must for precipitation.
Cloud thickness is important as may or may
not create the falling of the water.

Depending on intensity:
– Shower (great vertical development)
– Rain (horizontal development)
 METAR
●
Drizzle (DZ)
●
Rain (RA)
●
Raind and Drizzle (RADZ)
●
Snow (SN)
●
Rain and Snow (RASN)
●
Snow grains (SG)
●
Small Hail (GS)
●
Hail (GR)
●
Freezing Rain/Drizzle (FZRA/FZDZ)
●
Ice pellets (PE)
 Coalescence
1) Water is found in suspension at altitude
or is being lifted by updrafts.
2) Water droplets collide with each other,
thus forming a greater droplet
3)When too heavy they fall due to gravity

Unfortunately, this explanaition is

valid....but only on the tropics or hot areas.
What happens above 0º isotherm?
Supercooled water droplets
Water droplets that remain in a liquid state
even below 0ºC temperature (0ºC-30ºC)

In order for water to freeze it needs impurities to attach to for

ice crystals to form

The greater the amount or the bigger the impurities, the

quicker the freezing of the droplet.

Mixed clouds: clouds containing supercooled droplets

and ice crystals.
 Bergeron-Findeisen Process
Water droplets in contact with the ice nuclei, attach
themselves, subliminating, turning into ice, getting bigger and
heavier. Finally they fall from the sky.

This process occurs above the 0ºC isotherm, explaining

precipitation at higher levels.
Snow, Rain, Drizzle
All of this are found in the first stages of the
cummulus development
Continuos light rain and drizzle are linked to
stratus type clouds
Continious or intermittent
Moderate/Heavy Rain, Snow, Rain
Shower, Snow Shower, Hail
Found in Altocumulus and Nimbostratus
(rain bearing)
Showers ad hail on cummulonimbus with
great vertical development
9 m/s falling speed and 5,5 mm size of
droplet
 Hail and Snow
Powerful updrafts
carry the droplets upwards,
they freeze,
fall and start going up
until reaching equilibrium
(1 kg at 25 m/s)
Freezing Rain/Snow
●
Found in the NS of a warm front
●
Virga advises of its presence
●
Between 1000 ft-4000ft
 Cu/Cb precipitation
●
Showers
●
Strong downdraughts
●
Cold sinking air
●
5-12 km in diameter (small area)
●
Short time: few seconds to 45 min
●
Avoid them, changing course, circling but
NOT going above them
Associated risks
●
Downdraughts (100 m/s) Hail
●
Microbust Lightning strikes
●
Windshear Engine flame out
●
Turbulence
 Lightning and thunder

●
Stay away from open spaces
●
Get our of the water if
swimming
●
Don´t carry metal poles
●
Throw yourself on the
ground
●
Static electricity felt before

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Airborne Weather Radar
Questions
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