Types of Clouds

Cirrus- Ci

Most common high clouds, thin and wispy, indicate wind direction, generally pleasant weather

Pileus

Thin scarf over the top of a tall cloud; forms as moist wind are deflected

Altostratus- As

Thin to thick, no halos, Sun's outline just visible, gray day; form ahead of storms producing widespread rain

Stratus- St

Uniform, featureless, gray, like high fog; can have light precipitation

Shelf cloud

a dense, arch-shaped, ominous-looking cloud that often forms along the leading edge of a thunderstorm's gust front, especially when stable air rises up and over cooler air at the surface; do NOT rotate!!

Anvil

flat anvil top of a tall cumulonimbus cloud; shows movement of the thunderstorm based on the direction the anvil is pointing

Castellanus

literally means "small castles" and are vertical extensions of a cloud. Either on cumulus congestus or atlocumulus

Stratocumulus- Sc

low and lumpy clouds, appear in rows or patches; usually a precipitation free type of cloud

Mammatus

pouch-like sacs that hang underneath the anvil portion of cumulonimbus clouds

Lenticular

shaped like a UFO that hovers over a mountain

Cirrocumulus- Cc

small, rounded white puffs; isolated or in rows; thin, wispy, heap

Cirrostratus- Cs

thin, sheet like cloud that covers the entire sky; can produce a halo around the sky; form ahead of approaching storms and is a good predictor of rain or snow within 12-24 hours

Cumulus- Cu

vertically developed cloud, cotton ball shape, base is light and gray. Cumulus humulis- slight vertical growth Cumulus congestus- "towering cumulus" and can have castellanus

Nimbostratus- Ns

A dark, gray wet-looking cloud characterized by more or less continuously falling precipitation (rain or snow) of light or moderate intensity (never heavy precipitation). It is not characterized by thunder, lightning or hail. No sun or moon visible through cloud mass. Sometimes has scud clouds break apart from it

Undulatus Asperatus

Describes as "visible" air motions rolling though the sky

Altocumulus- Ac

Gray, puffy, rounded masses of cumulus clouds with bases between 8,000 and 12,000 feet. Sometimes rolled out in parallel waves or bands with bases darker than other parts of the same cloud. Individual cumulus puffs should be about the size of the ball of your thumb when your hand is held at arms length. Referred to "rising castles" (called castellanus) indicate instability at mid levels of the atmosphere.

Cumulonimbus- Cb

Large, towering (precipitating) cumulus clouds accompanied by thunder, lightning and rain. From a distance, the top of the cumulonimbus may look like a blacksmith's anvil. Taller the cloud, the more energy it has, and the worse the thunderstorm

Contrail

a trail of condensed water from an aircraft or rocket at high altitude, seen as a white streak against the sky

Wall cloud

an area of rotating clouds that extends beneath a supercell thunderstorm and from which a funnel cloud may appear