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A cloud is a large group of tiny water droplets that we can see in the air.
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Clouds are formed when water on Earth evaporates into the sky and condenses high up in the cooler air. Learn more about the water cycle.
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Rain, snow, sleet and hail falling from clouds is called precipitation.
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Most clouds form in the troposphere (the lowest part of Earth’s atmosphere) but occasionally they are observed as high as the stratosphere or mesosphere.
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Clouds can contain millions of tons of water.
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There are a range of different types of clouds, the main types include stratus, cumulus and cirrus.
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Stratus clouds are flat and featureless, appearing as layered sheets.
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Cumulus clouds are puffy, like cotton floating in the sky.
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Cirrus clouds are thin and wispy, appearing high in the sky.
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There are many variations of these 3 main cloud types including stratocumulus, altostratus, altocumulus, cirrostratus and cirrocumulus.
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Fog is stratus type of cloud that appears very close to the ground.
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Clouds can also be made of other chemicals.
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Other planets in our Solar System have clouds. Venus has thick clouds of sulfur-dioxide
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while Jupiter and Saturn have clouds of ammonia.
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Check out this cloud basics video for more