Dear Mr. Skilling,
We are learning about weather in first grade. What kind of clouds do we see the most?
Raquelle Blentlinger, Forest Glen School, Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Dear Raquelle,
Weather people have identified more than 70 different kinds of clouds, but they all fall
into three general groups that depend on the height of the cloud bases above the
ground. Those groups are low clouds (with bases below 6,000 feet), middle
clouds (6,000 to 18,000 feet) and high clouds (above 18,000 feet).
Most of the various kinds of clouds can be seen at one time or other in the Chicago
area, but the most common are the cumulus clouds--the flat-bottomed, puffy, "dob of
cotton" clouds seen on sunny days. Some cumulus clouds (like cumulonimbus -- the
thunderhead) build upward to 35 thousand feet or more but, with bases below 6,000
feet, are classed as low clouds.
