Water and Ice

Photo Copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Did you know that even in summer most of us are never more than 2 to 3 miles away from snow and ice? In this photo a growing cumulus congestus is rising in the lower left while above it we see cirrus fibratus with tentacles stretched by the wind. The cumulus consists of tiny water droplets. The cirrus are made of ice crystals. The freezing line on a hot summer day is usually at an altitude between 12,000 to 15,000 feet high.