Clouds Part 1 (High-Level Clouds)

A cloud is a visible accumulation of minute droplets of water, ice crystals, or both, suspended in the air. Though they vary in shape and size, all clouds are basically formed in the same way through the vertical of air above the condensation level. Continue...

Clouds may also form in contact with the ground surface, too. Such a cloud would be known as fog, ice fog, or mist. The types of clouds can be divided into three levels, each in turn with its own main groups of clouds. All in all, there are ten fundamental types of clouds.

High-level clouds (5-13 km):  Cirrocumulus, Cirrus, and Cirrostratus.

Mid-level clouds (2-7 km): Altocumulus, Altostratus, and Nimbostratus.

Low-level clouds (0-2 km): Stratus, Cumulus, Cumulonimbus, and Stratocumulus.

High-Level Clouds: 

Cirrus:

Cirrus is one of the most common types of clouds that can be seen at any time of the year. They’re thin and wispy with a silky sheen appearance. This type of cloud is always made of ice crystals whose degree of separation determines how transparent the cirrus is. Besides the filament appearance, cirrus clouds stand out among other types of cloud because they’re often colored in bright yellow or red before sunrise and after sunset, respectively. Cirrus clouds lit up long before other clouds and fade out much later.

Cirrocumulus:

Cirrocumulus clouds are among the most gorgeous out there. These usually form at about 5 km above the surface with small white fluff patterns that spread out for miles and miles over the sky. They’re sometimes called ‘mackerel skies’ because they can sometimes have a grayish color which makes the clouds look a bit like fish scales.

Cirrocumulus clouds exhibit features from both cumulus and cirrus clouds but should not be confused with altocumulus clouds. While the two can look similar, cirrocumulus does not have shading and some parts of altocumulus are darker than the rest. Cirrocumulus cloud comes after cirrus cloud during warm frontal system. What’s worth keeping in mind about cirrocumulus clouds is that they never generate rainfall (but can mean cold weather) nor do they interact with other types of clouds to form larger cloud structures.

Cirrostratus:

Cirrostratus clouds have a sheet-like appearance that can look like a curly blanket covering the sky. They’re quite translucent which makes it easy for the sun or the moon to peer through. Their color varies from light gray to white and the fibrous bands can vary widely in thickness. Purely white cirrostratus clouds signify these have stored moisture, indicating the presence of a warm frontal system. Some of the best cloud pictures involve cirrostratus clouds because the ice crystals beautifully refract light from the sun or moon producing a dazzling halo effect. 

Cirrostratus clouds can turn into altostratus clouds if these descend to a lower altitude. As a nice piece of trivia, cirrostratus clouds almost always move in a westerly direction. The sight of them usually means rainfall is imminent in the next 24 hours.

Credit: zmc science