Do clouds keep cold air out during winter?
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clouds are like blankets they try to keep u warm without a blanket you get real cold at night.
79449
Clouds are composed of small water droplets and/or ice crystals, depending on temperature. It's H2O in some form. Lower clouds are generally water droplets, while high clouds such as cirrus clouds are made up of ice crystals.
242381
Lightning and thunder can happen while snowing, but it's quite rare.  It has to do with the fact that cold air holds less moisture than warm air.  The more moisture a cloud contains the bigger the storm becomes.  That's why thunderstorms are common in the warm weather months.  In the winter, less moisture is available which does not promote the forming of clouds that support thunderstorms.  However, with the right dynamics in the atmosphere, especially with nor'easters or lake effect snows, thundersnows occur.  Here in north central Indiana we had a thundersnow during an event that produced heavy snow a couple years ago.  I've only seen it once though in the 23 years I've lived here.
242077
The snow holds pockets of air which act as insulation.Because they are low and round the heat circulates lower in the shelter.The heat is provided by the human body and can be regulated by the individual possessing that body.The igloo also shelters from the elements such as wind chill
1124272
It will snow when temperatures are at 32F or below and when their is sufficient moisture in the atmosphere.  It will hail at many different temperatures when the hail rises then falls, rises with air currents then falls when gravity overcomes the aircurrents.
570098
Clouds form when the invisible water vapor in the air condenses into visible water droplets or ice crystals. This can happen in three ways.\n\n1. The air is cooled below its saturation point. This happens when the air comes in contact with a cold surface or a surface that is cooling by radiation, or the air is cooled by adiabatic expansion (rising). This can happen\n\nalong warm and cold fronts (frontal lift), \nwhere air flows up the side of a mountain and cools as it rises higher into the atmosphere (orographic lift), \nby the convection caused by the warming of a surface by insolation (diurnal heating), \nwhen warm air blows over a colder surface such as a cool body of water. \n2. Clouds can be formed when two air masses below saturation point mix. Examples are breath on a cold day, aircraft contrails, and Arctic sea smoke.\n\n3. The air stays the same temperature but absorbs more water vapor into it until it reaches saturation.\n\n\nand there's lots more at....
126634
Clouds block part of the heat coming in during the day, but trap heat in at night.  Therefore, generally, when it's cloudy, the days are not as hot, but the nights are warmer.
110943
The air inside attempts to equalize with the air outside.  This means if you have bad insulation, your warm air will seap out and cold air will seap in.  With good insulation, this will happen less, and it won't take as much money or energy to keep the house warm.
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Clouds are tiny droplets of water that have condensed on condensation nuclei such as pollen, dust, ash, & pollution in the troposphere.\n\nB/c they are very tiny and independant of each other, they tend to be suspended. This is due to various things such as updrafts, winds, etc. They are very lightweight. Only when they begin to start growing in size will gravity take over & they start to fall as rain.
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It gets cooler as you go higher in the atmosphere. The water vapour in the air condenses on the dust particles forming tiny water droplets. These droplet float in the air. Such clusters of droplets is what we call clouds.
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What are clouds?\nA cloud is a large collection of very tiny droplets of water or ice crystals. The droplets are so small and light that they can float in the air. \n\nHow are clouds formed?\nAll air contains water, but near the ground it is usually in the form of an invisible gas called water vapor. When warm air rises, it expands and cools. Cool air can't hold as much water vapor as warm air, so some of the vapor condenses onto tiny pieces of dust that are floating in the air and forms a tiny droplet around each dust particle. When billions of these droplets come together they become a visible cloud. \n\nWhy are clouds white?\nClouds are white because they reflect the light of the sun. Light is made up of colors of the rainbow and when you add them all together you get white. The sun appears a yellow color because it sends out more yellow light than any other color. Clouds reflect all the colors the exact same amount so they look white.\n\nWhy do clouds turn gray?\nClouds are made up of tiny water droplets or ice crystals, usually a mixture of both. The water and ice scatter all light, making clouds appear white. If the clouds get thick enough or high enough all the light above does not make it through, hence the gray or dark look. Also, if there are lots of other clouds around, their shadow can add to the gray or multicolored gray appearance.\n \nWhy do clouds float?\nA cloud forms when air heated by the sun. As it rises, it slowly cools it reaches the saturation point and water condenses, forming a cloud. As long as the cloud and the air that its made of is warmer than the outside air around it, it floats!\n\nHow do clouds move?\nClouds move with the wind. High cirrus clouds are pushed along by the jet stream, sometimes traveling at more than 100 miles-per-hour. When clouds are part of a thunderstorm they usually travel at 30 to 40
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Well you see, not all clouds are the same: Here are some different types of clouds, that don't rain at all.\n\nCirrus Clouds\nCirrus clouds are the most common of the high clouds. They are composed of ice and are thin, wispy clouds blown in high winds into long streamers. Cirrus clouds are usually white and predict fair to pleasant weather. By watching the movement of cirrus clouds you can tell from which direction weather is approaching. When you see cirrus clouds, it usually indicates that a change in the weather will occur within 24 hours.\n\n\nCirrostratus clouds are thin, sheetlike high clouds that often cover the entire sky. They are so thin that the sun and moon can be seen through them. Cirrostratus clouds usually come 12-24 hours before a rain or snow storm.\n\n\nCirrocumulus clouds appear as small, rounded white puffs that appear in long rows. The small ripples in the cirrocumulus clouds sometime resemble the scales of a fish. Cirrocumulus clouds are usually seen in the winter and indicate fair, but cold weather. In tropical regions, they may indicate an approaching hurricane.\n\n\n"Alto" Clouds\nAltostratus clouds are gray or blue-gray mid level clouds composed of ice crystals and water droplets. The clouds usually cover the entire sky. In the thinner areas of the clouds, the sun may be dimly visible as a round disk. Altostratus clouds often form ahead of storms with continuous rain or snow.\n \n\nAltocumulus clouds are mid level clouds that are made of water droplets and appear as gray puffy masses. They usually form in groups. If you see altocumulus clouds on a warm, sticky morning, be prepared to see thunderstorms late in the afternoon.\n\n\nStratus Clouds\nStratus clouds are uniform grayish clouds that often cover the entire sky. They resemble fog that doesn't reach the ground. Light mist or drizzle sometimes falls out of these clouds.\n \n\nStratocumulus clouds are low, puffy and gray. Most form in rows with blue sky visible in between them. Rain rarely occurs with stratocumulus clouds, however, they can turn into nimbostratus clouds.\n\n\nNimbostratus clouds form a dark gray, wet looking cloudy layer associated with continuously falling rain or snow. They often produce precipitation that is usually light to moderate.\n\n\nCumulus Clouds\nCumulus clouds are white, puffy clouds that look like pieces of floating cotton. Cumulus clouds are often called "fair-weather clouds". The base of each cloud it flat and the top of each cloud has rounded towers. When the top of the cumulus clouds resemble the head of a cauliflower, it is called cumulus congestus or towering cumulus. These clouds grow upward and they can develop into giant cumulonimbus clouds, which are thunderstorm clouds.\n\n\nCumulonimbus clouds are thunderstorm clouds. High winds can flatten the top of the cloud into an anvil-like shape. Cumulonimbus clouds are associated with heavy rain, snow, hail, lightning and even tornadoes. The anvil usually points in the direction the storm is moving.\n \n\nSpecial Clouds\nMammatus clouds are low hanging bulges that droop from cumulonimbus clouds. Mammatus clouds are usually associated with severe weather.\n\n\nLenticular clouds are caused by a wave wind pattern created by the mountains. They look like discs or flying saucers that form near mountains.\n\n\nFog is a cloud on the ground. It is composed of billions of tiny water droplets floating in the air. Fog exists if the atmospheric visibility near the Earth's surface is reduced to 1 kilometer or less.\n\nContrails are condensation trails left behind jet aircrafts. Contrails form when hot humid air from jet exhaust mixes with environmental air of low vapor pressure and low temperature. The mixing is a result of turbulence generated by the engine exhaust.\n\nhope this helps :-).
404328
For clouds to form the air has to be unstable, meaning that the air at the surface is warmer than the air above. Remember the saying warm air rises? So when the air rises it hits a level called the Lifting Condensation Level or LCL. If the air rises to this point it then can start to condense on particles in the sky forming clouds.
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Well, it depends.  Are you talking ground temperature, air temperature, cloud temp.?  The ground temp doesn't have to be below freezing.  However, the temp in the clouds has to be.  This temp is often colder than ground temp, which means that snow will form even when the ground temp is above freezing.  If the snow isn't warmed much on the way down, it will still be snow when it gets to the ground.  Typically, according to Wikipedia.org, snow will fall at temps of 35-40 degrees F. and below.\n\nA good counter-example would be sleet, which is snow that has partially thawed on its descent to the earth.  Another good counter-example would be to tell the person to pay attention to the temp the next time it snows.  I live in Indiana, and we get snow all the time with temps around 40 degrees F.  It's not uncommon at all.
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no clouds are not solid they are made  up of water  vapor and gas. Clouds are formed when air contains as much water vapor (gas) as it can hold. This is called the saturation point, and it can be reached in two ways. First, moisture accumulates until it reaches the maximum amount the volume of air can hold. The other method reduces the temperature of the moisture filled air, which in turn lowers the amount of moisture it can contain. Saturation, therefore, is reached through evaporation and condensation, respectively. When saturation occurs, moisture becomes visible water droplets in the form of fog and clouds.\n\nIt should be noted that condensation by itself does not cause precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, hail). The moisture in clouds must become heavy enough to succumb to gravity and return to earth's surface. This occurs through two processes. In cold clouds ice crystals and water droplets exist side by side. Due to an imbalance of water vapor pressure, the water droplets transfer to the ice crystals. The crystal seventually grow heavy enough to fall to earth. In the second process, water droplets in warm clouds collide and change their electric charge.Droplets of unlike charge attract one another and merge, thereby growing until they have sufficient weight to fall.\n\nThere is no difference between fog and clouds other than altitude. Fog is defined as a visible moisture that begins at a height lower than 50 feet. If the visible moisture begins at or above 50 feet, it is called a cloud. Two common types of fog are called radiation fog and advection fog. Radiation fog forms during the night as the earth's surface cools and the air immediately above it cools in turn by conduction. If the air is moist enough, the cooling causes it to reach saturation and visible water droplets form. We often call this type of fog ground fog because it lies so close to the surface. Advection fog forms when warm moist air moves over a colder surface (advection means to move horizontally). A perfect example is on the west coast of continents. Prevailing westerly winds move moist air from over a warm ocean area to over the colder waters off the coast. Fog forms and is carried by the westerly over the land.\n\nClouds can form anywhere in the troposphere, and although condensed liquid, they are light enough to float in the air and move from place to place by the wind. Clouds are classified according to appearance and height. Based on appearance, there are two major types: Clouds of vertical development, formed by the condensation of rising air; and clouds that are layered, formed by condensation of air without vertical movement. When clouds are classified by height, there are four classes: high, middle, low, and vertical development.\n\nCloud names, of which there are twelve, combine appearance and height. A brief description of the root name will indicate this combination of features.
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It's because the tops of mountains has colder temperature than the bottom, that warm air rise up from the earth's heat to the air where they condense, form into clouds around the tip of the mountain is the land which is most coldest. At that position, it is a spot where clouds can be seen most often.
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As air rises to get over the mountain, it cools.  Cooler air can't carry as much water vapor as warmer air, so cloud droplets form.