Cirrus Cloud over bridge Image by Wikipedia

I always enjoyed watching clouds. I mean who doesn’t!! Ever since we were kids we always (or at least once in our life time) looked up in the sky to find clouds with different shapes. Tried to find “that” elephant or dog or whatever. I tried that many times, and only found abstract shapes. My country doesn’t have much variety of clouds, so I always watched specific sets everyday never knowing that there are others far more interesting of them.

Now I have Internet where I spend most of my time and this is where I have seen the most amazing clouds ever. Such rare clouds that many of us may not have ever seen before or may not see ever afterwards with our own eyes. But whether we can see them or not we should at least know about them since they give us so much pleasure and inspiration. Also, it’s fun knowing them.

Stratocumulus from above Image via Wikipedia

So what will I discuss in this article?? In this article I will not discuss about the formation of clouds or the inter-connection between them (how they change from one cloud to another) because those are very complicated and you will probably get bored reading them. So I will write as simply as possible making it very easy to understand. I will strictly confine myself into describing only the types of clouds there are and even when describing the classification I will make sure I exclude the Sub-types and Exceptions of clouds so that I only describe 12 types of clouds instead of over 50 types. I have given links to pictures related to each type so that you can understand better and cool yourself up when things turn messy.

The basic method used to classify clouds is their height. To be more exact, the height of the base of cloud (not the top of cloud since it varies too much) determines which “Family” it belongs to. They have four families in total inside which the clouds are further divide into types according to their shapes.

Here is a picture summary: See Picture Summary

Now I will describe each family with there subcategories.

1. Family A: High Clouds ( Range between 20000 feet to 40000+ feet)

a) Cirrocumulus: “Cirro” means curl of hair and “Cumulus” means heaped. So Cirrocumulus means heap of curl of hair and that’s exactly how the cloud looks like. They occur really high above the ground; above 20000+ feet . They occur as small white patches and gather as sheets with other cirrocumulus clouds. They don’t combine to form large compact masses. ( See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

Cirrus on Field Image via Wikipedia

b) Cirrus: “Cirrus” means curl of hair; so Cirrus means just that. They are not heaped but rather thin wisplike or hair like strand which can be extensive. They are found above 23000+ feet with their extensions linking to each other forming sometimes a layer of clouds. . (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

c) Cirrostratus: “Cirro” means curl of hair and “Stratus” means layered. So the cloud is basically curl of hair forming flat layers. They are very thin and can cover the whole sky. When thick enough to be seen they are whitish with no special property (looks like a halo). They signify approaching rain and can be found above 2000+ feet .  (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

2. Family B: Middle Clouds (Range between 8000 feet to 20000 feet)

a) Altostratus: “Alto” means high and “Stratus” means, as you know, layered. So it is basically a layer of gray cloud (darker than Cirrostratus) that frequently covers the whole sky. We can generally see the sun through unless it is very thick which will cause rain. They are found at 8000-20000 feet. (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

b) Altocumulus: “Alto” means high and “Cumulus” means heap. Just like Cirrocumulus it is a heap of clouds but with bigger and darker curl of hair. They are globular or roll shaped clouds that can form layer or group together into big mass around 8000-20000 feet high. (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

Cumulus from above Image via Wikipedia

3. Family C: Low Clouds ( Below 8000 feet)

a) Cumulus: “Cumulus” means heap. This clouds are nothing but a heap of water droplet (cloud) that has low bases with varying top that can climb really high. They are best described as puff of clouds that can be found as individual, layer or clusters. There bases are below 6500 feet but their top can go High (in which case it becomes part of Family D). In most cases these clouds do not rain, they are more like clouds of the sunny day. (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

b) Stratocumulus: “Strato” means layered and “Cumulus” means heap. Then this is nothing but a layer of puff clouds. They are bigger than Altostratus and come in varieties of layer (waves, lines, parallel lines). They cause light rain or snow but can also signify upcoming storm since they act as the head and tail of storms. They are found usually below 8000 feet. (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

c) Nimbostratus: “Nimbo” means rain and “Stratus” means layered. So they are rain clouds; just a uniform layer of shapeless dark rain clouds. They are found between surface and 8000 feet high limit and can bee 2000 meter thick. It will probably rain with them around. (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

d) Stratus: “Stratus” means layered. This cloud is nothing but fog at high level which is a result of uplifting of ground fog or when cold air passes by really low. It is flat hazy and featureless and when many of them it blocks the sun we call it a “Cloudy Day”. It is found below 6000 feet. (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

Cumulonimbus with NOAA research Vessel Image via Wikipedia

4. Family D: Verticle Clouds (Can reach up to 65000+ feet from low bases)

a) Cumulonimbus: “Cumulo” means heap and “Nimbus” means rain. The combination means a heap of rainy clouds. It may sound cute but it actually a tall, dense and dangerous cloud which is involved in thunder storms and other intense weather. Its altitude is from 6500 feet to 65,000 feet. (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

b) Cumulus: It is same as Family C (a). It’s just that when the cloud is very tall it becomes a part of this family. (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

c) Pyrocumulus: “Pyro” means fire and “Cumulus” means heap.  As you can guess this cloud is associated with fire and volcanic activity. Due the extreme heat or eruption the air rises and takes a form of cloud. The height of the cloud depends on the power of the source (volcano). (See Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3)

And that’s it. These are the general types of clouds (yes, there are more because each type has other variety of species). Although no clouds are exactly alike, we still managed to find similarities and divided them. It may be hard to get at first but few revisions may polish your skills. And then go out and check what cloud you can see today and try to figure out its general type.

Cirrus cloud creating giant leaf Image via Wikipedia

The real fun starts when you know almost all the species (its tough but I am trying to learn them), their formation, reasons behind shape and height. Then you can actually predict whether its gonna rain or not, rain for how long, how much will it rain or when will it rain. There are lots of other advantages and information which I don’t know yet. I will let you all know when I find out. Thank You.