Don
Well Known Member
In both my flight training and weather education in school I learned that cumulous clouds form when warm moist air cools to the dew point and small droplets form around particles or dust and the result are visible clouds. That makes rational sense.
What puzzles me is how there can be 2, 3 or more layers of clouds within the first 6-8 thousand feet. Now that I'm flying an RV I find it isn't simply a matter of getting on top - sometimes there's multiple layers of clouds to deal with. I'm not so much interested in how to deal with flying between layers (the FARs pretty well cover the requirements) what I'd like to know is how this happens. Clearly there is something lacking in my weather knowledge skill, and I'm a firm believer in what I don't know can kill me.
So how do you get a scattered layer at 4,200', a broken layer at 5,500', and a ceiling at 8,000' like we had here in Richmond, VA Saturday afternoon? It seems to me all the rising moisture would condense at 4,200' in this example but it doesn't appear to work that way. How are the other cloud layers, which appear to be cumulous clouds, formed?
I also figure that if I understood this process, it might influence my decision making in some cases.
To the Moderators - lacking a Weather Topic to post this in, I picked safety since weather and safety are linked so closely in aviation. However, feel free to move this where you think it's appropriate.
What puzzles me is how there can be 2, 3 or more layers of clouds within the first 6-8 thousand feet. Now that I'm flying an RV I find it isn't simply a matter of getting on top - sometimes there's multiple layers of clouds to deal with. I'm not so much interested in how to deal with flying between layers (the FARs pretty well cover the requirements) what I'd like to know is how this happens. Clearly there is something lacking in my weather knowledge skill, and I'm a firm believer in what I don't know can kill me.
So how do you get a scattered layer at 4,200', a broken layer at 5,500', and a ceiling at 8,000' like we had here in Richmond, VA Saturday afternoon? It seems to me all the rising moisture would condense at 4,200' in this example but it doesn't appear to work that way. How are the other cloud layers, which appear to be cumulous clouds, formed?
I also figure that if I understood this process, it might influence my decision making in some cases.
To the Moderators - lacking a Weather Topic to post this in, I picked safety since weather and safety are linked so closely in aviation. However, feel free to move this where you think it's appropriate.