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What are nimbostratus clouds?

Updated: 8/10/2023
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14y ago

Best Answer

they are gray

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Leonora Medhurst

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2y ago
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16y ago

It got its name by combining the words nimbo and stratus. Stratus clouds are ones that form in layers, and look like they kind of 'blend in' with the sky. When you add the word nimbo to a cloud name, it means a dark rain cloud. Therefore, the nimbostrautus cloud is a dark, layered rain cloud.

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9y ago

Nimbostratus clouds form from heat. They form when the heat reaches the earth's surface. The air near the surface absorbs the heat, lifts it up until it cools, and condenses into ice or water droplets to create these clouds.

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6y ago

Nimbus clouds are dark clouds as they carry huge quantity of water droplets with it enough to pour you with loads of shower. The water droplets pour down in various forms like rain, snow, hail and sleet
there is not a nimbus cloud

but there is a nimbostratus cloud

nimbostratus clouds form a dark-grey ''wet'' looking cloudy layer assoiated with continuously falling rain or snow .they often produce precipitation that is usually light to moderate.

p.s. your welcome

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15y ago

The formation of clouds caused by cooling of the air results in the condensation of invisible water vapor that produces visible cloud droplets or ice particles (see Meteorology). Cloud particles range in size from about 5 to 75 micrometers (0.0005 to 0.008 cm/0.0002 to 0.003 in). The particles are so small that light, vertical currents easily sustain them in the air.

Water vapor typically needs a cloud condensation nucleus in order to form such cloud particles. The cloud condensation nucleus can be a much tinier solid particle of dust, soot, smoke, volcanic material, sea salt, microbes, or human-created pollution. At colder temperatures, an ice crystal in the atmosphere can also form on an ice nucleus or freezing nucleus made of similar kinds of tiny particles. However, at temperatures at or below -40oC (-40oF) a process called spontaneous, or homogeneous, nucleation can occur in which ice crystals form out of pure water molecules without such extra nuclei. An ice crystal can also become a condensation nucleus for a water-vapor cloud particle that forms rain.

The different cloud formations result partly from the temperature at which condensation takes place. When condensation occurs at temperatures below freezing, clouds are usually composed of ice crystals; those that form in warmer air usually consist of water droplets. Occasionally, however, supercooled clouds contain water droplets at subfreezing temperatures (see Supercooling).

The air motion associated with cloud development also affects formation. Clouds that develop in calm air tend to appear as sheets or stratified formations; those that form under windy conditions or in air with strong vertical currents have a towering appearance.

Clouds perform a very important function in modifying the distribution of solar heat over Earth's surface and within the atmosphere (see Solar Energy). In general, because reflection from the tops of clouds is greater than reflection from the surface of Earth, the amount of solar energy reflected back to space is greater on cloudy days. Although most solar radiation is reflected back by the upper layers of the clouds, some radiation penetrates to the surface of Earth, which absorbs this energy and reradiates it. The lower parts of clouds are opaque to this long-wave Earth radiation and reflect it back toward Earth. The result is that the lower atmosphere generally absorbs more radiative heat energy on a cloudy day because of the presence of this trapped radiation.

By contrast, on a clear day more solar radiation is initially absorbed by the surface of Earth, but when reradiated this energy is quickly dissipated because of the absence of clouds. Disregarding related meteorological elements, the atmosphere actually absorbs less radiation on clear days than on cloudy days.

Cloudiness has considerable influence on human activities. Rainfall, which is very important for agricultural activities, has its genesis in the formation of clouds (see Rain). The marked effect of clouds on visibility at flight levels proved to be a major difficulty during the early days of the airplane, a hazard that was alleviated with the development of instrument flying, which permits the pilot to navigate even in the midst of a thick cloud (see Navigation). The sharp increase in consumption of electricity for lighting during cloudy days represents one of the major scheduling problems faced by the electric-power industry.

Clouds play a major role in many weather phenomena. They are the source of precipitation, which can take the form of rain, drizzle, sleet, hail, or snow. Water vapor in clouds can carry enormous amounts of heat and energy that result in storms ranging from individual thunderstorms to huge hurricanes and tropical cyclones. Lightning occurs when an electrical charge builds up inside a cloud-the base of the cloud typically becomes negatively charged. The process is still not completely understood, but may involve ice crystals falling through the cloud. Alternatively, differences between the electrical charge of small and large water droplets falling through the cloud could cause an electrical polarization.

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14y ago

Nimbostratus clouds usually form below 6,000 feet, and usually form a steady amount of precipitation.

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16y ago

I may not know much about it,but I think they form when a cloud gets too heavy to hold water vapor ,so it gets hot and sink,that is why we have fog,which is a nimbostartus cloud.

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15y ago

i say no

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Q: What are nimbostratus clouds?
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