Is there a seasonal difference in the average cloud floor?

Question

It always looks like clouds are so much higher in the sky (altitude) in the summer than in the winter. Is that true? If not, is there some sort of optical illusion? If so, why is that? I live in Iowa, so I don't know if this is a phenomenon that exists in all climates, just temperate climates, or just the US Midwest. And, for that matter if this actually happens or if I'm just misinterpreting what I'm seeing.

Answer 1

Interesting observation. It might be that summertime, warm fronts tend to form clouds up higher, since the entire air mass is warmer, and you must transport the water vapor high enough that adiabatic cooling passes the dew point. Then also, you seldom see towering cumulus in the winter -- winter "fair-weather" clouds are low level cumulus, though they may flurry from there!

It would have to depend on the weather system moving through, also -- storm systems are always quite tall, though you don't see most of that, especially in winter. Frequently there may be cloud layers at several altitudes, and obviously you don't see most of that (except in the tropics, where you may see strands of cloud all around at different levels in a sunny sky, truly makes my heart jump with joy, very rare to see that in temperate regions). -- Cheers, -- Mr. d.