Humans have always found clouds beautiful. Artists draw pictures of them. Poets write poems about them. Singers sing songs about them. But thanks to science, we now know a lot about what clouds are.
Clouds are made from tiny drops of water. There are so many raindrops that the clouds can become enormous. When clouds are full, the drops of water fall down to the ground in raindrops. Raindrops are made from water. Sometimes, a lot of raindrops fall very quickly. Most clouds give us rain, but did you know that different things can come out of clouds?
Some clouds give us snow. This happens when it is cold. The temperature must be at or below 0 degrees Celsius to produce snow. Snowflakes fall down from the clouds when the clouds are full. Snowflakes are made from water. Every snowflake is different.
Some clouds give us hail. Hail stones are made from water. Some hailstones can be very big! Hail is little balls of ice. Hailstones fall down from the clouds when the clouds are full.
Some clouds give us sleet. Sleet can also be called slush. Slush falls down from the clouds when the clouds are full.
Clouds can also look different. Have you seen clouds that look like feathers? They are called cirrus clouds. What about clouds that are puffy like cotton? They are called cumulus clouds. What about clouds that look flat? They are called stratus clouds. Sometimes the sky has a mixture of different types of clouds.
Have you ever heard someone say, "It's raining cats and dogs"? That means it's raining very hard. Rain is not really made of cats and dogs. But did you know that some people have really seen strange rain?
In 1981 in a town in Greece, people saw frogs raining down from the sky. In 1956 in a town in America, people saw fish raining down from the sky. In 1881 in a town in England, people saw crabs raining down from the sky.
How did these animals become rain? Scientists think that the wind must have picked up the small animals. When the wind dropped them in other towns, it looked like rain. Imagine seeing real animals rain down from the sky!