Despite their seemingly weightless appearance, clouds can actually be quite heavy.
5 A single cumulus cloud, which is a large and fluffy cloud often associated with fair weather, can weigh up to 1 million pounds, or 450,000 kilograms. This is because clouds are made up of tiny water droplets or ice crystals that have condensed in the atmosphere, and when there are enough of these droplets or crystals, they can add up to a significant amount of mass.
However, it’s worth noting that the weight of a cloud can vary widely depending on its size and altitude, and many clouds are much lighter than a million pounds. Additionally, the weight of a cloud is spread out over a large volume, so it doesn’t necessarily have a significant impact on the Earth’s overall mass.
The word “cloud” comes from the Old English word “clūd,” which means a mass of rock or earth in the sense of a rock formation or a mass of earth on the ground.
6 However, the meaning of the word shifted over time to refer to the masses of water droplets or ice crystals that we now know as clouds. This transition likely occurred because clouds were seen as resembling other masses in the natural world, such as flocks of birds or herds of animals.
So while the word “cloud” may have originally referred to a mass of rock or earth, its meaning has evolved over time to encompass one of the most fascinating and dynamic phenomena in the sky.
