What are clouds? A cloud is a large collection of very tiny droplets of water or ice crystals. The droplets are so small and light that they can float in the air.
How are Clouds formed?
All air contains water, but near the ground it is usually in the form of an invisible gas called water vapor. When warm air rises, it expands and cools. Cool air can’t hold as much water vapor as warm air, so some of the vapor condenses onto tiny pieces of dust that are floating in the air and forms a tiny droplet around each dust particle. When billions of these droplets come together they become a visible cloud.
` How does clouds influence weather ? Heavy cloud cover will moderate both day and night temperatures.In hot deserts,absence of clouds results in high day temperatures and very low night temperatures.Very humid air absorbs heat during the day and retains it during the night. Clouds reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface and the amount of radiation leaving.Clouds have two major effects on weather and climate. Clouds reflect sunlight, which can keep surface temperatures cool. However, they also trap heat close to the Earth's surface, which keeps temperatures warmer. Which one of these processes wins out depends on how thick the clouds are, and a number of other factors, including cloud type and thickness, the magnitude of the solar radiation.