Cloud Types

Common Cloud Classifications

Clouds are classified into a system that uses Latin words to describe the appearance of
clouds as seen by an observer on the ground. The table below summarizes the four
principal components of this classification system

Latin Root Translation Example

cumulus heap fair weather cumulus
stratus layer altostratus
cirrus curl of hair cirrus
nimbus rain cumulonimbus

Further classification identifies clouds by height of cloud base. For example, cloud names
containing the prefix "cirr-", as in cirrus clouds, are located at high levels while cloud
names with the prefix "alto-", as in altostratus, are found at middle levels. Here there are
several cloud groups. The first three groups are identified based upon their height above
the ground. The fourth group consists of vertically developed clouds, while the final
group consists of a collection of miscellaneous cloud types.

High-Level Clouds

High-level clouds form above 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) and since the temperatures are
so cold at such high elevations, these clouds are primarily composed of ice crystals.
High-level clouds are typically thin and white in appearance, but can appear in a
magnificent array of colors when the sun is low on the horizon.
 Cirrus Clouds
Thin and Wispy

The most common form of high-level clouds is thin and often wispy cirrus clouds. Typically
found at heights greater than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), cirrus clouds are composed of ice
crystals that originate from the freezing of super cooled water droplets. Cirrus generally occurs
in fair weather and point in the direction of air movement at their elevation.

Cirrus can form from almost any cloud that has undergone glaciations and can be observed in a
variety of shapes and sizes. Possibilities range from the "finger-like" appearance of cirrus fall
streaks to the uniform texture of more extensive cirrus clouds associated with an approaching
warm front.

Fall streaks form when snowflakes and ice crystals fall from cirrus clouds. The change in wind
with height and how quickly these ice crystals fall determine the shapes and sizes the fall streaks
attain. Since ice crystals fall much more slowly than raindrops, fall streaks tend to be stretched
out horizontally as well as vertically. Cirrus streaks may be nearly straight, shaped like a comma,
or seemingly all tangled together.

Similar to fall streaks is virga, which appears as streamers suspended in the air

beneath the base of precipitating clouds. Virga develops when precipitation falls through a layer
of dry air and evaporates before reaching the ground.
 Cirrostratus Clouds
Sheet-Like and Nearly Transparent

Cirrostratus is sheet-like, high-level clouds composed of ice crystals. Though cirrostratus can
cover the entire sky and be up to several thousand feet thick, they are relatively transparent, as
the sun or the moon can easily be seen through them. These high-level clouds typically form
when a broad layer of air is lifted by large-scale convergence.

Sometimes the only indication of their presence is given by an observed halo around the sun or
moon. Halos result from the refraction of light by the cloud's ice crystals. Cirrostratus clouds,
however, tend to thicken as a warm front approaches, signifying an increased production of ice
crystals. As a result, the halo gradually disappears and the sun (or moon) becomes less visible.

When the sun is low on the horizon, cirrostratus clouds can appear in a magnificent array of
colours as longer wavelengths of sunlight (red, yellow, and orange) are reflected off of the
clouds.

The cirrus streaks in this photograph are aligned in a southwest to northeast direction, indicative
of warmer air advancing at higher levels. Lower on the horizon, thickening cirrostratus clouds
effectively hide the sun, signifying changing weather ahead. As the warm front approaches, these
clouds will thicken and be replaced lower and denser cloud types.