54 What Do Clouds Tell Us？

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What Do Clouds Tell Us? by LAURA HULBERT With the Editors of TIME FOR KIDS

Chapter 1 How Clouds Form Do you know how clouds form? The Sun heats water on Earth. Heat changes some water into water vapor— a gas. Water vapor rises into the sky. It cools and turns back into tiny drops of water. Many drops of water make clouds. Some clouds are fat and puffy. Some are thin and flat. Clouds can be white or gray. Some are almost black. Clouds can tell you what kind of weather is coming. In this book, you will find out how to "read" clouds!

Chapter 2 How to Read Clouds These are cirrus (SIR-uhs) clouds. Cirrus means "curly." Some people think cirrus clouds look like horses' tails. What do you think? These thin clouds form high in the sky. You see them on a sunny day. They tell you the wind is changing. It may bring rain in the next day or two.

These are stratus (STRAYT-uhs) clouds. Stratus means "spread out." Stratus clouds block the Sun. They make a gray day. When stratus clouds are low in the sky on a warm day, they mean rain. In the winter, stratus clouds mean snow. When a stratus cloud forms very low to the ground, this is fog.

These are the clouds you like to draw. They are cumulus (KYEW-myuh-luhs) clouds. Cumulus means "heap" or "pile." Sometimes these puffy white clouds are low. There is blue sky all around. This usually means it is a nice day. Sometimes cumulus clouds grow tall. They rise high in the sky. Then you can tell rain is coming. There could be a thunderstorm.