Cloud suck Cloud suck Cloud suck is a phenomenon commonly known in paragliding, hang gliding, and sailplane flying where pilots experience significant lift due to a thermal under the base of cumulus clouds, especially towering cumulus and cumulonimbus. The vertical extent of a cumulus cloud is a good indicator of the strength of lift beneath it, and the potential for cloud suck. Cloud suck most commonly occurs in low pressure weather and in humid conditions. Cloud suck is typically associated with an increase in thermal updraft velocity near cloud base. As a parcel of air lifted in a thermal rises, it also
Cloud newly formed cloud is determined mainly by air mass characteristics such as stability and moisture content. If these characteristics change over time, the genus tends to change accordingly. When this happens, the original genus is called a "mother cloud". If the mother cloud retains much of its original form after the appearance of the new genus, it is termed a "genitus" cloud. One example of this is "stratocumulus cumulogenitus", a stratocumulus cloud formed by the partial spreading of a cumulus type when there is a loss of convective lift. If the mother cloud undergoes a complete change in genus, it