Cloud Formation: Key Ingredients

There are two main ingredients for clouds to form: condensation nuclei and water vapor.

Water vapor enters the atmosphere through evaporation from open water, the soil, or plants' leaves.

Smoke, dust, and even sea spray can be used as nuclei for water droplets to bond within the atmosphere.

But temperature is also an essential part of the formation of clouds, specifically the dew point temperature. The dew point is a measure of the moisture in the air and temperature when the atmosphere becomes saturated.

Source: National Weather Service