The big fluffy clouds, like from The Simpsons opening credits… Why, in real life, do they look like big puffy clouds sitting on a solid, smooth, invisible surface?
In: Planetary Science
They basically are. Cumulus clouds are the puffy ones that are flat on the bottom. There’s a layer of warm air below them where water can’t form into droplets because it’s too warm. As soon as the water passes that line, it becomes a part of the cloud.
That warm air rising contains the water that becomes the cloud, it just reaches a critical point in a relatively uniform way.
Similarly, cumulonimbus clouds (big thunderstorm clouds) are usually flat on top of the same reason. The warm air has reached too high and it has cooked enough to start sinking again.
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