Cumulus Clouds Videos: Clouds  Clouds are a beautiful and vital
part of the planet's weather system, like these floating above
Wyoming's Red Desert. Watch cloud videos.  Eastcott
Momatiuk/Digital Vision/Getty Images  Introduction to How Clouds
Works  Gazing up, you might see a few fluffy bunnies drift by,
followed by a fleet of racing sailboats. Finally, the handful of
ominous tumbling masses that roll in abruptly ends an afternoon
spent gazing at the clouds.  So just where do these clouds come
from, and how do they make rain, sleet and snow? Before we get
into how clouds work, let's get familiar with all the different
types of clouds we see drifting overhead.  ­Basically, clouds
are differentiated by altitude and by shape. This work was
pioneered by Luke Howard at the beginning of the 19th century.
From his work, we now classify clouds in a couple of ways. The
clearest way to understand this system is to examine the Latin
roots of the words.  The main types of clouds are:    • Cumulus
(meaning "heap" or "pil