Science & TechFact
A fair-weather cloud weighs as much as a hundred elephants.
A typical cumulus cloud holds about half a gram of water per cubic meter. For a cloud one kilometer on each side, a billion cubic meters, that's roughly 500 tonnes of water. It doesn't fall because the water is spread over tiny droplets that rising warm air keeps aloft with ease.
Useful: Rain only starts when droplets merge into drops heavier than the updraft can carry.
Source: usgs.gov