Sue Peterson, age 10, of Omaha, Nebraska, for her question:

What are clouds made of?

Most clouds are somewhat like the steamy plume that spouts from a boiling kettle. Both are made of mini droplets of water, floating in the air. However the steam from the kettle is hot enough to scald your skin    and clouds tend to be quite chilly. Actually, on a misty morning you walk right through a lazy cloud, as it lolls on the ground.'

Most, but not all clouds are made of misty droplets of moisture. Some of those fine feathery white clouds may be made of mini ice crystals. A gloomy dark cloud may be full of weepy raindrops, big enough to come showering down. In midwinter, a large curtain of dove gray clouds may be creating feathery snowflakes. And a glowering thunderhead may be marshalling an army of icy hail. But all clouds are made of air mixed with some form of moisture    which may be liquid drops or droplets, crystal snowflakes or frozen hailstones.