Tropospheric clouds are divided into physical forms defined by structure, and levels defined by altitude range. Some clouds are puffy like cotton while others are grey and uniform. This type is a low, uniform layer of clouds across the sky. Cloud heights are different at the tropics and in the polar regions. The first set of classifications refers to the general appearance of clouds, based on the behavior of the water suspended in the air. Cumulus clouds are probably the most well-known of the cloud types. Nimbus.

This type is basically a cirrus cloud that looks more like a stratus cloud, so more of a widespread wispy layer, like a veil. This means, “layer,” and describes just that type of appearance, layered sheets of clouds. Depending on the movement of the cloud, due mostly to differences in hot and cold currents of air, altitude, and density of water, we get the main different types of clouds. They generally form from convection, with air parcels rising vertically into the atmosphere (called updrafts) and condensing into the puffy, cotton-like clouds that we all know and love. Clouds are categorised according to height and shape. Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds in the sky, however they are not associated with weather like the rest of the clouds in this table. They are so high up they are almost entirely made up of ice, create no precipitation, and usually are visible on a nice day when the lower atmosphere is clear. Monstrous towering clouds that grow from strong drafts of warm air, then balloon out like a mushroom or anvil at the top. Other clouds are grouped not by their height, but by their unique characteristics, such as forming alongside mountains (Lenticular clouds) or forming beneath existing clouds (Mammatus clouds). Polar stratospheric clouds are located in a layer of the atmosphere called the stratosphere.

Warmth evaporates water from bodies of water on the surface, the warmed vapor travels up, and when it cools sufficiently, clouds become visible. The diagram on the right shows where different types of clouds are located in the sky. Humanity has always made a hobby, a pastime and science of these puffy white giants, which can be so beautiful and innocuous, or harsh and punishing. The clouds are medium-sized puffs that are a combination of gray and white and form in groups. Cloud computing services fall into 4 categories: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS) and FaaS (functions as a service). Also known as thunderheads, these can grow to 40,000 feet or higher, and produce heavy rain, hail or snow. A fourth main Latin term used in cloud classification is “nimbus.” This description is the most literal, as nimbus means, “rain,” and the term is added to other cloud names to indicate they are a variant that produces precipitation (although not limited to rain). From his Essay of the Modifications of Clouds (1803) Luke Howard divided clouds into three categories; cirrus, cumulus and stratus. With cirrus the wispy category, and stratus the thin layer cousin that exists at lower altitudes, it won’t be surprising that cirrostratus is similar in appearance to both. The types of clouds that produce weather in our atmosphere are called tropospheric clouds, in that they form in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. * The cloud heights provided in this table are for the mid-latitudes. Cirro-form. Visit us on Instagram. Some clouds are near the ground, while others are near the top of the troposphere. As I already mentioned, the main four cloud groups are categorized according to their height, with the ten major cloud systems listed below the category they are associated with: 1) High Clouds. They look a bit thicker or puffier than the lower stratus clouds. These clouds have grown from rising drafts of warm air, and are bigger than your fist when held up at arm’s length to compare. These are dark and stormy clouds that undulate along the bottom in big, menacing waves or ridges. There are also clouds that form in the higher levels of the atmosphere – the mesosphere and the stratosphere. Learn how your comment data is processed. The big guys. They usually indicate good weather, but beware, they can quickly turn into a thunderstorm under the right conditions. There are also clouds that form in the higher levels of the atmosphere – the mesosphere and the stratosphere. Please share it along to friends you if this site is useful for many people. The Four Core Types of Clouds. Types of Clouds – How small indeed, when gazing up at a towering raincloud or fast-moving wisps lit by the morning sun, do we feel when watching clouds in the sky?

Cirrus clouds are the most common type of high cloud. These are the wisps of clouds streaked across the sky. Cloud Group and Height * Cloud Types; High Clouds. 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. The simplest way to describe a cloud is that it’s the manifestation of water suspended in the earth’s atmosphere. Mammatus clouds appear on the undersides of cumulonimbus clouds, and are commonly described as “drooping” or “pouch-like.” They look a bit like bubbling water when it’s at a rolling boil. When combined with other characteristics or categorized by altitude, these basic forms take on prefixes that describe the more specific category of cloud within each main type. In the most basic form, cirrus clouds look almost like you took a huge paintbrush and drew a few strokes across the sky. If you ever looked up at the sky as a kid and picked out shapes of other objects in the clouds, they were probably altocumulus. Stratus clouds in their most basic description are uniform blankets of clouds, mostly shapeless and sometimes giving off a light rain or drizzle.

They are sort of your stereotypical cloud shape, the kind a child might draw, with a large flat base and puffy or jagged edges. Beyond these four classifications, there are many other prefixes and sub-classifications that can be added on to further describe cloud types. Clouds are continually changing and appear in an infinite variety of forms. When you look up and see a wide field of chunky clouds, clumped together and having thin and thick parts, those are stratocumulus. In addition, a few other cloud types are found in higher layers of the atmosphere.

Cumulus These are the balls of cotton you see on clear, usually sunny, days. The term "cloud nine" comes from an atlas published in 1896 classifying clouds into ten types, with cumulonimbus clouds being the 9th type, or cloud nine! They exist very high in the atmosphere as white shoots or tufts of condensation and do not give off any precipitation.