The Washington Post has created a series of visualizations illustrating differences in cloud heights across the United States. One visualization shows the average cloud base height during the spring, summer, fall, and winter seasons. Height-related effects from clouds play a crucial role in shaping daily weather patterns and climate as thicker, low-level clouds help block solar radiation from hitting the surface, while the thinner, higher clouds trap the sun’s energy on Earth like a greenhouse gas. According to the visualization, cloud base heights are higher on average in the western half of the United States and during the summer and lower in the eastern half of the United States, on the western coastline, and during the winter.
Visualizing Cloud Heights in the United States
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