Do you like watching clouds in the sky? Here are five charming facts about clouds facts for kids. Have you ever looked up at the sky and imagined the clouds were giant pieces of cotton candy, galloping horses, or fluffy dragons? Welcome to the charming world of clouds! Even though they look like light, airy pillows, clouds are actually busy “water-movers” that travel all around our planet. They are made of billions of teeny-tiny water droplets or ice crystals that are so light they can float on the air like magic.
Clouds are the Earth’s natural weather-tellers. They can be high and wispy like brush strokes of white paint, or low and thick like a heavy grey blanket. They play a very important role in keeping us comfortable—acting like a giant sunshade during the day to keep us cool and a cosy blanket at night to keep the Earth’s heat from escaping into space. From “glowing” blue clouds to fluffy giants that weigh as much as 100 elephants, the sky is full of surprises. Get ready to keep your head in the clouds as we explore five charming facts about these floating wonders!
Clouds look very light as they float around in the sky but they hold lots and lots of water. A regular cumulus cloud is around 250 tonnes! That’s even heavier than the Statue of Liberty in New York.
Storm clouds are even heavier because they hold even more water. Thunderstorm clouds can carry nearly 10 million tonnes of water.
Clouds form for many different reasons, some are even man-made. Here are three examples of clouds that form in our atmosphere:
Cirrus Clouds – These are very high up clouds and they look like wispy hair or brush strokes of white paint in the sky. They can tell us that the weather is going to change soon.
Cumulus Clouds – These are very fluffy looking clouds that are there when the weather is good. They are usually white or grey. They can develop into storm clouds when the weather changes.
Status Clouds – These clouds form in a blanket of cloud that is low down in the air. Stratus clouds produce rain or snow if the weather is very cold. They can also form fog on the ground.
Clouds are pushed around by the wind all the time. You can see how they move across the sky. They can go very fast if the wind is fast. Thunderstorms can travel around 30 miles per hour but clouds that are caught in the jet stream can travel 100 miles per hour.
Clouds provide a barrier between Earth and space which keeps in heat. Clouds make sunny days colder because they block the sun but they make nighttime warmer. Have you noticed that the coldest winter nights have no clouds? If you can see the stars you know it is going to be a very cold night. This is because the clouds stop heat escaping into space so when they aren’t there the nights are colder.
Clouds are white normally because the water held in them reflects the light coming from the sun. When the water forms into raindrops less light gets through making the cloud darker and grey.
Grey isn’t the only colour that clouds turn, however. Clouds turn pink when the sun is setting but also when they are filled with snow. This is because of how the frozen water reflects the sunlight.
Clouds can also warn us of thunderstorms or tornadoes by turning green. Storm clouds that come with tornados and thunderstorms are very thick clouds. The red light coming from the sun cannot get through only allowing green and blue light through. This makes the sky and clouds look green.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about clouds as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic these clouds are, you can move on to learn about other climate and weather stuff like: Thunder, Thunderstorms, Thunder and Lightning, Rainbows, Lightning, Floods, Earth’s Atmosphere, Hurricanes, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Blizzard, Wind and Tsunamis.
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