Clouds White In Color

White Clouds

White, fluffy and wispy clouds signify a bright and beautiful day. But when these clouds turn a shade of gray, mind you! It’s bound to rain! Have you ever thought why are clouds white? Or why do they turn a dark shade at times? Are these the mysteries of nature? Or is it our imagination? Well, there definitely is a scientific explanation why clouds appear in a particular color. Let’s take a look why clouds appear as white.

Why are Clouds White?

Firstly, we would have to understand about the composition of a cloud. It consists of a mass of frozen crystals or very tiny droplets of water that float in the Earth’s atmosphere. Clouds always float above the surface of Earth. When observed from Earth, the color of a cloud can suggest what it actually contains! The ice crystals that form the cloud reflect sunlight. Clouds appear white because they reflect this sunlight. Basically a cloud reflects similar quantity of light therefore, it tends to look white. This is because the tiny particles of water in the cloud are so close to each other that sunlight cannot infiltrate deep into the cloud. This results in the reflection of light, which subsequently makes cloud appear white. However, when the drops of water turn larger, then light can penetrate inside the cloud. This light is not reflected back and it remains absorbed (the light in this case may only be reflected upwards.) Therefore, the color of the cloud then appears of a different shades such as gray or even black when seen from the Earth! This itself creates an impression of an overcast sky and weather forecasts then would obviously predict rain!

Apart from these colors, clouds are also seen in shades of red or even orange especially on days when one can witness a gorgeous sunset. This again, is a result of the scattering of light, which creates beautiful effects! Thus we see how different types of clouds can be seen in different shades. Despite the scientific explanation, such sights sure appear as wonders of nature to me!