How are clouds formed?

Because wet air rises, in the process of rising, its volume gradually expands due to the decrease of external air pressure with height, and its own heat is consumed in the process of expansion. In this way, the air rises and cools, forming clouds.

The first is thermal action. On a sunny summer day, when the sun is strong, the air layer near the ground is heated sharply, and the hot and light air moves upward. The second is that when cold and warm air meet, warm air rising above cold air will also produce thick clouds. The third is the terrain. When advection wet air encounters obstacles from mountains and hills, it will be forced to rise and form clouds.

There are many reasons for the formation of clouds, mainly the rise of wet air. In the process of rising, because the external air pressure decreases with the height, its volume gradually expands, and it consumes its own heat in the process of expansion. In this way, the air will cool as it rises.

However, the ability of air to contain water vapor is limited. At a certain temperature, the water vapor pressure of water vapor contained in unit volume of air is called saturated water vapor pressure. Therefore, as the rising air temperature decreases, its saturated water vapor pressure also decreases.

When the saturated water vapor pressure of the rising air drops, some water vapor will condense into small water droplets with the dust in the air as the core. These small water droplets are small in size, but have a large concentration, and their falling speed in the air is very small, so they can be supported by the updraft in the air. So it can be suspended in the air and become a cloud.