
- Nimbostratus – Low and middle dark gray clouds with precipitation falling from them. ...
- Cumulus – Low clouds. ...
- Stratus – Low clouds, light or dark gray and generally uniform in appearance and covering most of the sky. ...
- Stratocumulus – Low clouds with irregular masses of clouds, rolling or puffy in appearance, sometimes with space between the clouds.
What are the 8 types of clouds?
Types of clouds. High level clouds (5-15 km) Mid level clouds (2-7 km) Low level clouds (0-2 km) Vertical clouds; High level clouds Cirrus clouds. These are thin hair-like clouds completely made of ice crystals. Cirrus clouds are also known as ‘mare’s tail’ because of their appearance. These clouds indicate fair weather.
What are the different types of clouds?
What are the Different Types of Clouds?
- Low-level Clouds. These are clouds that hang below 6,500 feet (1,981 m). ...
- Middle Clouds. These types of clouds form between 6,500 and 20,000 feet (1981–6,096 m). ...
- High-level Clouds. These types of clouds form above 20,000 feet (6,096 m). ...
- Other Types of Clouds. ...
- Conclusion. ...
Can you name these types of clouds?
Thus, the 10 types are: Low-level clouds (cumulus, stratus, stratocumulus) that lie below 6,500 feet (1,981 m) Middle clouds (altocumulus, nimbostratus, altostratus) that form between 6,500 and 20,000 feet (1981–6,096 m) High-level clouds (cirrus, cirrocumulus, cirrostratus) that form above 20,000 feet (6,096 m)
What are the different levels of clouds?
Low-level clouds
- Stratus. Sheets of stratus clouds. Credit: Pixabay, Bluesnap. Stratus clouds are composed of thin layers of clouds covering a large area of the sky.
- Cumulus. Cumulus clouds are characterized by a white, fluffy appearance. People say these resemble cauliflowers.
- Cumulonimbus. The cloud that produces showers and thunderstorms. Credit: Pixabay. Cumulonimbus is fluffy and white like cumulus but the cloud formations are far larger.

What are the characteristics and types of clouds?
Cirrus (Ci) These are fibrous wisps of delicate white ice crystal clouds. ... Cirrostratus (Cs) These clouds are made of ice crystal and it forms a translucent whitish veil completely or partially covering the sky. ... Cirrocumulus (Cc) ... Altostratus (As) ... Altocumulus (Ac) ... Stratus (St) ... Stratocumulus (Sc) ... Cumulus (Cu)More items...
What are the characteristics of the three groups of clouds and how are they classified?
A scheme of classifying clouds according to their particulate composition, namely, water clouds, ice-crystal clouds, and mixed clouds. The first are composed entirely of water droplets (ordinary and/or supercooled), the second entirely of ice crystals, and the third a combination of the first two.
What are 3 characteristics of cirrus clouds?
Cirrus clouds are wispy, feathery, and composed entirely of ice crystals. They often are the first sign of an approaching warm front or upper-level jet streak.
What are the characteristics of cumulus clouds?
Cumulus clouds are detached, individual, cauliflower-shaped clouds usually spotted in fair weather conditions. The tops of these clouds are mostly brilliant white tufts when lit by the Sun, although their base is usually relatively dark.
What are the 3 main classifications of clouds?
From his Essay of the Modifications of Clouds (1803) Luke Howard divided clouds into three categories; cirrus, cumulus and stratus.
What are the three main types of clouds and an example of each?
The three main types of cloudsHigh-level clouds (5-13 km): cirrocumulus, cirrus, and cirrostratus.Mid-level clouds (2-7 km): altocumulus, altostratus, and nimbostratus.Low-level clouds (0-2 km): stratus, cumulus, cumulonimbus, and stratocumulus.
What are 3 differences between cumulus and stratus clouds?
Cumulus clouds result from air rising due to positive buoyancy (i.e. metaphor: bubbles rising in a pot of water). Stratus clouds results from a forced lifting of air (low level convergence, upper level divergence). Cumulus clouds are associated with convection.
What means stratus?
Definition of stratus : a low cloud form extending over a large area at altitudes of usually 2000 to 7000 feet (600 to 2100 meters) — see cloud illustration.
What is a cumulus cloud look like?
Cumulus clouds look like fluffy, white cotton balls in the sky. They are beautiful in sunsets, and their varying sizes and shapes can make them fun to observe! Stratus cloud often look like thin, white sheets covering the whole sky. Since they are so thin, they seldom produce much rain or snow.
What are the characteristics of nimbus clouds?
Nimbostratus clouds are dark, grey, featureless layers of cloud, thick enough to block out the Sun and produce persistent rain.Height of base: 2,000 - 10,000 ft.Shape: Bands or areas of individual cells.Latin: nimbus - rainy cloud; stratus - flattened or spread out.Precipitation: Continuous rain or snow likely.
What are stratus clouds?
Stratus clouds are low-level layers with a fairly uniform grey or white colour. Often the scene of dull, overcast days in its 'nebulosus' form, they can persist for long periods of time. They are the lowest-lying cloud type and sometimes appear at the surface in the form of mist or fog.
What are rain clouds called?
Nimbus("Nimbus" comes from the Latin word for "rain.") Two examples are the nimbostratus or cumulonimbus clouds. Nimbostratus clouds bring continuous precipitation that can last for many hours. These low-level clouds are full of moisture. Cumulonimbus clouds are also called thunderheads.
What are the characteristics of cloud computing?
There are basically 5 essential characteristics of Cloud Computing.On-demand self-services: ... Broad network access: ... Rapid elasticity: ... Resource pooling: ... Measured service:
Why are there different types of clouds?
At a warm front, where a warm air mass slides over a cold air mass, the warm air is pushed upward forming many different types of clouds, from low stratus clouds to midlevel altocumulus and altostratus clouds, to high cirrus, cirrocumulus and cirrostratus clouds.
How many types of clouds are there and what are their names?
The classification of clouds into types was first proposed by Luke Howard in 1802 and we largely use the same system today. This splits clouds into three main types - stratus, cumulus and cirrus. Clouds are continually changing and appear in an infinite variety of forms.
How are clouds formed Class 3?
Clouds are created when water vapor, an invisible gas, turns into liquid water droplets. These water droplets form on tiny particles, like dust, that are floating in the air.
What are the different types of clouds?
2. Learn about types of clouds 1 Cirrocumulus – High clouds with a puffy, patchy appearance and small spaces between clouds. Often form wave-like patterns. 2 Cirrostratus – High clouds, light gray or white, often thin with the Sun or Moon seen through them. Usually cover much of the sky. 3 Cirrus – High clouds, thin wispy and feathery, composed of ice crystals.
What is the difference between fog and stratus clouds?
Stratus – Low clouds, light or dark gray and generally uniform in appearance and covering most of the sky. Fog is a stratus cloud. Stratocumulus – Low clouds with irregular masses of clouds, rolling or puffy in appearance, sometimes with space between the clouds.
What are the two types of clouds that look like cotton balls?
Bases are diffuse and difficult to determine because of falling precipitation. Cumulus – Low clouds. Clouds appear puffy and look like cotton balls, popcorn or cauliflower.
What is a high cloud with a puffy, patchy appearance and small spaces between clouds?
Cirrocumulus – High clouds with a puffy, patchy appearance and small spaces between clouds. Often form wave-like patterns.
What is the name of the cloud with a puffy, patchy appearance?
Altocumulus – Middle clouds with a puffy, patchy appearance, usually with spaces between clouds.
What is a large cloud with dark bases and tall billowing towers?
Cumulonimbus – Large clouds with dark bases and tall billowing towers. Can have sharp well defined edges or an anvil shape at the top. Precipitation can obscure the base of the clouds. Clouds can be accompanied by thunder.
How to use dichotomous key?
A dichotomous key is a tool scientists (and you!) can use to identify things in nature by answering yes or no questions. You can use this dichotomous key to identify types of clouds. 4. Make cloud (and weather) observations. Go outside or look out the window toward the sky to begin observations.
What is the difference between stratocumulus and nimbostratus?
These clouds appear frequently in the atmosphere, either ahead of or behind a frontal system. Nimbostratus clouds are generally thick, dense stratus or stratocumulus clouds produc ing steady rain or snow .
What is a stratocumulus cloud?
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. Stratocumulus also can be thought of as a layer of cloud clumps with thick and thin areas.
What is a Cirrostratus cloud?
They often are the first sign of an approaching warm front or upper-level jet streak. Unlike cirrus, cirrostratus clouds form more of a widespread, veil-like layer (similar to what stratus clouds do in low levels).
What is a narrow, elongated cloud formed as jet aircraft exhaust condenses in cold air at high?
Contrail: Narrow, elongated cloud formed as jet aircraft exhaust condenses in cold air at high altitudes, indicative of upper level humidity and wind drift. Contrails Contrails in the sky from jets. Fog: Layer of stratus clouds on or near the ground.
What type of cloud is Altostratus?
Altostratus clouds are "strato" type clouds (see below) that possess a flat and uniform type texture in the mid levels. They frequently indicate the approach of a warm front and may thicken and lower into stratus, then nimbostratus resulting in rain or snow.
How are clouds classified?
Clouds are classified according to their height above and appearance (texture) from the ground. The following cloud roots and translations summarize the components of this classification system: 1) Cirro-: curl of hair, high. 3) Strato -: layer. 5) Cumulo-: heap.
What cloud can produce heavy rain?
If enough atmospheric instability, moisture, and lift are present, then strong updrafts can develop in the cumulus cloud leading to a mature, deep cumulonimbus cloud, i.e., a thunderstorm producing heavy rain.
Why is PaaS important?
PaaS is particularly useful for organizations that want to streamline workflows in a production environment that has multiple developers. PaaS can also minimize costs greatly and simplify the application development lifecycle in a Rapid Application Development (RAD) environment.
What is IaaS infrastructure?
IaaS provides an on-demand infrastructure to organizations on a pay-as-you-go basis over the Internet instead of via a traditional datacenter. IaaS has the following physical and virtual resources that allow organizations to run workloads in the cloud:
What is the difference between IaaS and SaaS?
PaaS, provides developers with a framework to build custom applications, while SaaS avails internet-enabled software to organizations via a third party.
What is PaaS software?
PaaS allows an organization to avoid the often costly and complex process of purchasing and managing software licenses. Essentially, PaaS providers manage everything else related to the application lifecycle while allowing developers to focus on applications they are developing.
What is compute resource?
Compute resources. IaaS compute resources are Virtual Machines (VMs) that are managed by hypervisors. IaaS providers provision VMs based on CPU, GPU, and memory consumption for various workloads. Organizations can auto-scale and load-balance different workloads based on the performance characteristic they want to achieve.
What happens if IaaS vendor outages?
If there are vendor outages in IaaS solutions, users might be unable to access their data for some time.
What is hybrid cloud?
A combination of both public and private clouds, a hybrid cloud combine s the two models to create a tailored solution that allows both platforms to interact seamlessly.
What are Altocumulus clouds made of?
Altocumulus clouds have several patchy white or gray layers, and seem to be made up of many small rows of fluffy ripples. They are lower than cirrus clouds, but still quite high. They are made of liquid water, but they don’t often produce rain. Weather prediction: Fair.
What is a Cirrus cloud?
Cirrus. Cirrus clouds are delicate, feathery clouds that are made mostly of ice crystals. Their wispy shape comes from wind currents which twist and spread the ice crystals into strands. Weather prediction: A change is on its way!
What are clouds made of?
All clouds are made up of basically the same thing: water droplets or ice crystals that float in the sky. But all clouds look a little bit different from one another, and sometimes these differences can help us predict a change in the weather.
What is the name of the cloud that covers the whole sky like a veil?
Cirrostratus. Cirrostratus clouds are thin, white clouds that cover the whole sky like a veil. These clouds are most commonly seen in the winter, and can cause the appearance of a halo around the sun or the moon. Weather prediction: Rain or snow will arrive within 24 hours!
Why are clouds still clouds?
They are still clouds, though, because they are made of water droplets condensed from the water vapor in the exhaust of the jet engines. Weather prediction: Contrails can provide information about the layers of moisture in the sky.
What is a dark cloud that fades into falling rain?
Nimbostratus. Nimbostratus clouds are dark, gray clouds that seem to fade into falling rain or snow. They are so thick that they often blot out the sunlight. Weather prediction: Gloomy with continuous rain or snow.
How do clouds form?
They can also be formed by sea breezes and often appear as lines where two air masses meet.
What is the name of the cloud that covers a large area?
That is why it is known as your typical rain cloud, with the precipitation usually spread out over a large area. Alongside cumulonimbus clouds, nimbostratus clouds are almost guaranteed to provide the area it covers with a substantial amount of precipitation.
What is the grey blanket of clouds that fills the sky?
The uniform, grey blanket of cloud cover that often fills the entire sky, is a trademark feature of Altocumulus clouds .
What is a Cirrocumulus cloud?
Cirrocumulus clouds are a variation of Cirrus clouds. They are patchy looking clouds which are often arranged in rows. Some meteorologists see them as a degraded form of Cirrus clouds.
What is a Cumulonimbus cloud?
Cumulonimbus clouds are seen as your typical storm clouds. They start at a low cloud level and can grow and expand up to the highest level . It is within this space, dominated by updrafts and downdrafts, that all the elements necessary for the development of a storm system are formed.
What are the lower levels of Cumulonimbus clouds?
The lower levels of a cumulonimbus cloud consists mainly of water droplets, while the upper level, where temperatures are well below zero, mainly consists of ice crystals and supercooled water. As far as precipitation goes, these clouds are known for producing heavy rainfall and hailstorms.
What is high cloud?
High Clouds. Clouds are classified as high clouds when they occur at altitudes of 6096 meters (20 000 feet) or higher. At these heights temperatures are below freezing point, meaning the water moisture in the clouds is in the form of ice crystals or supercooled water droplets. (Supercooled water droplets are water that remains in liquid form below ...
What is the altitude of a middle cloud?
Middle Clouds. Middle clouds usually occur at altitudes of between 2000 meters (6 500 feet) and 6096 meters (20 000 feet). As they appear much lower in the atmosphere, some condensation forms above water's freezing point. This means middle clouds contain a mixture of ice crystals and water droplets.
