Fast Facts for Kids
Cloud Facts for Kids

Cloud Facts for Kids

The topic of this web page is clouds (a suspended aerosol in the atmosphere) and contains 26 cloud facts for kids. In addition to facts about clouds, we provide you with some beautiful pictures of different types of clouds and alternate resources with information on clouds. Our cloud facts will help you learn about clouds, what clouds are made from, what are the different types of clouds, which types of clouds cause storms and several other cloud facts.

Our facts about clouds and other cloud related data should help you understand the fundamentals of them. Start your research on clouds by scrolling down and reading our 00 cloud facts. Following those facts are cloud pictures and additional resources. We’re always looking to expand the below educational content on clouds, if you have anything you can share or find inaccurate information, please contact us.

26 Cloud Facts For Kids

  1. Clouds are collection of suspended ice crystals, liquid water and/or other particles in the atmosphere.
  2. Clouds form when evaporated water condenses and consolidates in the atmosphere. As a cloud becomes more saturated with water, gravity will cause it to fall to the ground in the form of precipitation. The temperature around a cloud determines what type of precipitation is created, such as rain when it’s warm and snow when it’s cold.
  3. Clouds move across our planet via wind and the jet stream, moving over 100 miles per hour.
  4. Clouds play an important role in the water cycle (hydrologic cycle). Clouds take evaporated water and help distribute fresh water across the planet in the form of precipitation (rain, sleet, hail, and snow).
  5. Clouds can hold a lot of water; a thunderstorm cloud can hold millions of gallons of water.
  6. Clouds float, but they weight a lot; a thunderstorm cloud can weight more than a million pounds.
  7. Clouds are divided into four different genera groups. Those groups are low (strato- and stratus), multi-level (nimbo-, cumulo- and cumulus), middle (alto-) and high (cirro- and cirrus).
  8. There are ten different clouds that make up the four different genera groups of clouds and they are stratus , stratocumulus , altocumulus, altostratus, cumulus, nimbostratus, cumulonimbus, cirrostratus, cirrocumulus, and cirrus.
  9. Stratus clouds (St) are low altitude clouds found between zero and 7,000 feet above sea level.
  10. Stratocumulus clouds (Sc) are low altitude clouds found between 2,000 and 7,000 feet above sea level.
  11. Altocumulus clouds (Ac) are middle level altitude clouds found between 7,000 and 23,000 feet above sea level.
  12. Altostratus clouds (As) are middle level altitude clouds found between 6,600 and 26,000 feet above sea level.
  13. Cumulus clouds (Ci) are multi-level altitude clouds found between 1,000 and 7,000 feet above sea level
  14. Nimbostratus clouds (Ns) are multi-level altitude clouds found between 2,000 and 18,000 feet above sea level
  15. Cumulonimbus clouds (Cb) are multi-level altitude clouds found between 2,000 and 52,000 feet above sea level.
  16. Cirrostratus clouds (Cs) are high altitude clouds found between 20,000 and 43,000 feet above sea level.
  17. Cirrocumulus clouds (Cc) are high altitude clouds found between 16,000 and 49,000 feet above sea level.
  18. Cirrus clouds (Ci) are high altitude clouds found between 13,000 to 66,000 feet above sea level.
  19. Severe weather is usually caused by cumulonimbus clouds, and they can produce heavy rain, lightning, thunder, flooding, and tornadoes.
  20. Cloudy days with little to no sunlight with no precipitation are caused by stratus clouds.
  21. Optical phenomenon, such as halos and sun dogs, are created by cirrus clouds.
  22. If you’ve ever looked in the sky and saw a cloud that was the shape of an object or animal, it was probably a cumulus cloud.
  23. A common myth is the sound of thunder is produced by clouds crashing into each other. That’s incorrect, lightning causes the sound of thunder by super heating the air around it.
  24. Airplane exhaust can create cloud streaks in the sky known as contrails and vapor trails.
  25. The professional study of clouds is called Nephology and is a branch of meteorology.
  26. The recreational study of clouds and finding shapes is called cloud watching or cloud spotting.

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Cloud Pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the below images will be helpful for your research on blizzards. Below are six pictures of people in a blizzard and blizzard conditions. These pictures should help you better understand the power of this severe winter storm.

Altocumulus clouds in the sky.

A picture of Altocumulus clouds in the sky.

Cirrocumulus clouds in the sky.

A picture of Cirrocumulus clouds in the sky.

Cirrostratus clouds in the sky.

A picture of Cirrostratus clouds in the sky.


Cirrus clouds in the sky.

A picture of Cirrus clouds in the sky.

Cumulonimbus clouds in the sky.

A picture of Cumulonimbus clouds in the sky.

Cumulus clouds in the sky.

A picture of Cumulus clouds in the sky.


Nimbostratus clouds in the sky.

A picture of Nimbostratus clouds in the sky.

Stratocumulus clouds in the sky.

A picture of Stratocumulus clouds in the sky.

Stratus clouds in the sky.

A picture of Stratus clouds in the sky.

Cloud Resources

We hope you found the above cloud facts, information, data, and pictures both fun and educational. You can continue to research clouds using one of the below additional resources. They were chosen for their credibility and accuracy; you can trust their information when it comes to clouds. Thank you for choosing Fast Facts for Kids.