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Do clouds move?
Question Date: 2015-06-14
Answer 1:

Yes, clouds move, even if they sometimes appear not to. How could that work?

Air in the atmosphere is in constant motion, driven by differences in temperature. All air contains some water vapor, but it is typically invisible. Clouds are formed when water vapor condenses into droplets, which are suspended instead of dissolved in the air. This is usually caused by a quick change in temperature, like when warm humid air encounters colder air, cold ground or water (a lake or ocean). Clouds also occur when a mountain forces air higher.

Defining the boundary of a cloud can be difficult, as the borders are diffuse – the small droplets are spread apart and can be stretched apart in the wind. The droplets at the edges are also dissolving back into the air as they get spread out. But the droplets do move in the wind and clouds do move over time – how fast they move depends on the wind speed.

Sometimes air currents predictably form clouds in certain places, often around mountains. It can appear that these clouds are not moving at all! In these places, changes of temperature and pressure cause water to condense, but dissolve back into the air when it leaves that area. There are also places where the air is still but the air around them is moving so fast that clouds get trapped in the “dead” air

My favorite photo of this phenomenon is here:

click here to see

For more lenticular clouds like this, check out this Wiki page: here


Answer 2:

Yes, clouds move. They move in the direction of the winds higher up in the atmosphere, which might be slightly different from what you feel on ground.


Answer 3:

Clouds blow in the wind. At 50,000 feet, those winds can blow as hard as 200 miles per hour, which means that the clouds up there can be moving at that speed as well.



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