Cloud Formations

Cloud Formations

http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/images/cloudchart.gif

http://virtualskies.arc.nasa.gov/weather/5.html

Autostratus: They form at middle levels and look like thick veils or sheets of gray or blue. If they are not too thick, sunlight can filter through them. They produce light, continuous precipitation.

Cirrus: They are very high clouds mostly made of ice crystals. They look very stringy, thin, and hair-like, and usually occur in fair weather and point in the direction the air is moving.

Cumulus: They are very puffy and lumpy looking clouds that are low in elevation and indicate warm and sunny weather.

Cirrocumulus: They are very high clouds that look like small rounded puffs in long rows. When there are many, it is called a "mackerel sky" because the clouds look like fish scales. They are usually seen in the winter and indicate fair, cold weather.

Stratus: They are flat sheets of clouds that can mean an overcast or steady rain and drizzle. They may stay in one place for several days.

Cumulonimbus: They occur when a nimbus cloud tows a cumulus cloud. They can release unexpected, giant thunderstorms.

Autocumulus: They are greyish-white sheet or patch medium-high clouds, made up of rounded heaps. They usually mean that the weather will be sunny.

Stratoculumbus: They are a low, lumpy layer of clouds that can have weak intensity precipitation. They appear in round masses and rolls with breaks of clear sky inbetween.