- Dude watches the weather!
- Dudes' musher needs to decide
if she should travel tonight. She
watches the clouds. Clouds tell her what
- weather is on its way. Tonight
the sky is full of Nimbostratus clouds.
- What kind of weather can Dude's
musher expect? Snow? Clear?
Windy? New front?
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Altocumulus Clouds: These clouds are composed of mainly water.
They appear as white or gray colored patchy puffy like. These
clouds from between 6,500 and 23,000 feet.
Altostratus Clouds:A dense layer of clouds having a patchy/puffy
appearance. The outline of the sun may show dimly as through
frosted glass. It often merges gradually into cirrostratus. As
with cirrostratus, it often is part of a cloud shield associated
with a front. This type of cloud is composed of mainly water
vapor and result from lifting a layer. These clouds form between
6,500 and 23,000 feet.
Cirrus Clouds: Are thin, feather like clouds composed
entirely of ice crystals. They form at altitudes between 16,500
to 45,000 feet above ground. They are often the first sign of
an approching front.
Cirrostratus Clouds: Are thin, wispy, whitish cloud layers
that look like a sheet or veil. Due to their ice crystal makeup,
these clouds are associated with halos--large, luminous circles
or arcs of circles surrounding the sun or moon. The layer often
is the edge of a frontal shield. They form at altitudes between
16,500 to 45,000 feet above ground.
Cold Front: The leading edge of a relatively colder
airmass which separates two air masses in which the gradients
of temperature and moisture are maximized. In the northern hemisphere
winds ahead of the front will be typically southwest and shift
into the northwest with frontal passage.
Front: A boundary or transition zone between two air
masses of different density, and thus (usually) of different
temperature. A moving front is named according to the advancing
air mass, e.g., cold front if colder air is advancing.
Nimbostratus Clouds: Rain/snow cloud that is layered. A dark,
gray cloud that means more or less continuously falling precipitation
( rain or snow.) They normally occur between 6,500 and 23,000
feet above the ground. This cloud completly blocks the sun or
moon.
Stratus Clouds: Sheets of dull gray. Stratus clouds
often appear in the form of patches, but otherwise do not look
like individual clouds like cumulus and stratocumulus clouds.
Stratus clouds are found between the ground and 6,500 feet. They
usually consist of mainly water vapor. Fog is a stratus cloud
with its base located at the ground.
Stratocumulus Clouds: These clouds have irregular layers of
puffy clouds.This cloud often forms from stratus as the stratus
is breaking up or from spreading out of cumulus clouds. They
usually consist of mainly water vapor and are located between
the ground and 6,500 feet.
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