En.wikipedia.org A stratocumulus cloud, occasionally called a cumulostratus, belongs to a genus-type of clouds characterized by large dark, rounded masses, usually in groups, lines, or waves, the individual elements being larger than those in altocumulus, and the whole being at a lower height, usually below 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). Spissatus (Spi) – "Dense": Thick cirriform (Ci spi) with a grey appearance; indicates some upward movement of air in the upper troposphere. Cumulonimbus tuba (WMO genus and supplementary feature) – column hanging from the bottom of cumulonimbus. Striations (informal term for WMO accessory cloud velum) – a groove or band of clouds encircling an updraft tower, indicative of rotation. Altostratus translucidus duplicatus (V-53). The text enclosed in grey-shaded boxes, like this example, comprises Annex I to the Technical Regulations (WMO-No. Altocumulogenitus – formed by the partial transformation of altocumulus mother cloud. The species associated with each genus type are listed in approximate ascending order of instability where applicable. Stratocumulus clouds have that look as well, but are a bit thinner and appear more grey. They also can be formed by winds passing hills or mountains, such as Foehn winds, and in this case they can be very regularly shaped. Cloud § History of cloud science and nomenclature, National Science Digital Library - Nimbostratus, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nimbostratus_cloud&oldid=960666077, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Downward-growing nimbostratus can have the same vertical extent as most large upward-growing cumulus, but its horizontal extent tends to be even greater. This often does not apply when stratocumulus is of a broken, fractus form, when it may appear as small as altocumulus. [3] They look like cumulus congestus, but can be easily confused: "towers" of cumulus congestus grow above separate clouds, whereas in the case of stratocumulus castellanus, there is always a more or less defined layer of clouds. Both stratocumulus and cumulus clouds are found at the same height, but stratocumulus clouds are more of a layer cloud than a cumulus cloud, usually found in conjoined groups or clumps of clouds. If you took an imaginary knife and spread cumulus clouds together across the sky but not into a smooth layer (like stratus), you'd get stratocumulus—these are low, puffy, grayish or whitish clouds that occur in patches with blue sky visible in between.

Three of the five physical forms in the troposphere are also seen at these higher levels, stratiform, cirriform, and stratocumuliform, although the tops of very large cumulonimbiform clouds can penetrate the lower stratosphere.

A count of basic tropospheric variants that result from the division and subdivision of genus types into species and varieties is shown as a number in parentheses from V-1 (variant 1) through V-92 after each variety, after nimbostratus that has no sub-types, and after certain species that are not always dividable into varieties.

However, these clouds are often seen at either the front or tail end of worse weather, so they may indicate storms to come, in the form of thunderheads or gusty winds.

You might consider stratocumulus clouds a mix of stratus clouds and cumulus clouds. When looking insight, cumulonimbus forms heap and the height may reach upto 25km sometimes.

Stratocumulus Castellanus have stronger convective activity due to the presence of increasingly unstable air. The following table shows the cloud varieties arranged across the top of the chart from left to right in approximate descending order of frequency of appearance. On the cross-classification table, forms and genus types (including some genus sub-types) are shown from left to right in approximate ascending order of instability. When these drift over land the summer heat or winter cold is reduced. Low cloud forms from near surface to ca. Tuba: – "Funnel" or "tube": Feature in the form of a column hanging from the bottom of cumulus or cumulonimbus. Clouds of the genus stratus form in low horizontal layers having a ragged or uniform base. In sections three to five, terrestrial clouds are listed in descending order of the altitude range of each atmospheric layer in which clouds can form: In section six, the cloud types in the general lists and the mother clouds in the applicable classification table are sorted in alphabetical order except where noted. Anvil dome (WMO supplementary feature incus) – the. Altocumulus clouds are small mid-level layers or patches of clouds, called cloudlets, which … Answers.comCumulus clouds are big and puffy and look like cotton balls. Cirriform clouds tend to be wispy and are mostly transparent or translucent. Murus: – "Wall": Cumulonimbus wall cloud with a lowering rotating base that can portend tornadoes.

Stratocumulus duplicatus is common on species lenticularis or lenticular cloud. The table that follows is very broad in scope and draws from several methods of classification, both formal and informal, used in different levels of the homosphere by a number of authorities. Clouds with upward-growing vertical development usually form below 2 kilometres (6,600 ft),[5] but can be based as high as 2.5 kilometres (8,200 ft) in temperate climates, and often much higher in arid regions. Stratocumulus lenticularis undulatus (Sc len un), Stratocumulus stratiformis opacus (Sc str op), © 2020 Why So Cirrus, LLC – All Rights Reserved -, …………… Derives from strato-, meaning layer, and cumulo-, meaning heap, ………… Stratocumulus can be abbreviated as Sc. Nimbostratus ("rainstorm layer") clouds form a low, dark layer of gray cloud that usually produces light but continuous rain, snow, or sleet (but not violent storms of the kind that give pure nimbus clouds their name). Homogenitus (homo-/pertaining to humans) – formed as a result of human activities, particularly aircraft at high altitudes and heat-generating industrial activities at surface level. Stratocumulus also can be thought of as a … They form in the evening, when updrafts caused by convection decrease making cumulus clouds lose vertical development and spread horizontally. Fluctus: Crested wave-like stratocumulus, altocumulus, or cirrus cloud formed by wind-shear. They share almost all of the same cloud species, cloud varieties, and other cloud features. Morning fog of water and/or carbon dioxide commonly forms in low areas of the planet. It was then renamed nimbostratus, and published with the new name in the 1932 edition of the International Atlas of Clouds and of States of the Sky. Additionally there are 14 species, 9 types, and 9 additional phenomenons like Virga or Mammatus, but these are not really important in my question. More dramatic versions of stratocumulus clouds include (but aren’t limited to) chaotic and wavy features (asperitas), sac-like features (mamma), and can even have the rare kelvin-helmholtz wave cloud (fluctus) association. However, the other sheet-like clouds usually each occupy only one or two levels at the same time. Earthscience.stackexchange.comThey are broken down into ten genuses of clouds: Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus, Altocumulus, Altostratus, Stratocumulus, Cumulus, Stratus, Cumulonimbus, and Nimbostratus. Like all other forms of stratocumulus apart from castellanus, they are also often found in anticyclones. A recent simulation has suggested that within a century, stratocumulus clouds may disappear, contributing to climate change. Stratocumulus clouds are hybrids of layered stratus and cellular cumulus, i.e., individual cloud elements, characteristic of cumulo type clouds, clumped together in a continuous distribution, characteristic of strato type clouds.