The Lowdown on Clouds Step outside and look up at the sky. Chances are you'll see a cloud. Some people think that clouds look like cotton balls or cotton candy. A cloud is a collection of billions of drops of water or ice. When the drops cling together and get heavy enough, they fall to earth as rain or snow, or sometimes hail.
Hail is chunks of ice.
These chunks can be as small as a grape or as big as an apple. Clouds come in many different colors, shapes, and sizes. Some are puffy and some look like feathers. They float higher up in the summer. They know that certain types of clouds bring rain, others bring snow, and others mean fair weather.