Types of cloud
Meteorologists classify clouds mainly by their height and
shape, and often combine two descriptive terms into a
complex name such as cirrostratus or stratocumulus.
Height
High clouds (cloud base between 6 and 12 km) is called
cirrus or is given the prefix cirro-.
Medium cloud (cloud base between 2 and 6 km) is given the
prefix alto-.
Low cloud is usually classified by its shape, with no
special prefix.
Shape
Clouds which are generally flat are described as stratus
or are given the prefix strato-.
Clouds which are towering or puffy are described as
cumulus or are given the prefix cumulo-.
Other words
Rain-producing clouds are described as nimbus or
given the prefix nimbo-.
Clouds which appear to have been broken up by wind are
given the prefix fracto-.
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| Cirrus: very high wisoy clouds
formed of ice crystals |
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| Cirrostratus:high sheets of
thin ice cloud, often producing a halo effect around
the sun or moon |
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| Altostratus: layer if almost
unbroken cloud at medium height |
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| Altocumulus: fairly high 'woolly'
looking cloud. |
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| Stratus: almost continuous
sheets of low cloud; often grey and associated with
drizzle. |
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| Cumulus: low, puffy clouds.
Sometimes white and assoiated with fair weather but
may grow upwards, produce showers and take on some
of the characteristics of cumulonimbus. |
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| Cumulonimbus: the classic 'thundercloud',
with a fairly low cloud base but very high top (often
flat): it may be up to 4-5 km from top to bottom.
Its great height is caused by rising air currents
inside the cloud, which allow large raindrops or
hail to develop. |
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| Nimbostratus: low, heavy
looking shets of grey cloud, associated with
continuous rain (e.g. at a warm front). |
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| Fractostratus: very low,
ragged clouds associated with wet and windy weather. |
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| Stratocumulus: an apparently
contradictory name applied to cumulus clouds that
have spread out and combined to form a broken sheet,
or to thin stratus that appears to be breaking up
into separate clouds. |
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