Under what conditions can a cloud form when air is sinking?
What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER: Most clouds form in rising air, but the mammatus forms in sinking air. Mammatus clouds derive their name from their appearance—baglike sacs that hang beneath the cloud and resemble a cow's udder. Although mammatus most frequently form on the underside of cumulonimbus, they may develop beneath cirrocumulus, altostratus, altocumulus, and stratocumulus. For mammatus to form, the sinking air must be cooler than the air around it and have a high liquid water or ice content. As saturated air sinks, it warms, but the warming is retarded because of the heat taken from the air to evaporate the liquid or melt ice particles. If the sinking air remains saturated and cooler than the air around it, the sinking air can extend below the cloud base, appearing as rounded masses we call mammatus clouds.
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