Types of Clouds

Cirrus Cirrus clouds can best be described as “ice-crystal” clouds that look like wispy curls of hair. These clouds are often the first signs of approaching weather changes.

Cirrus

Cirrocumulus These clouds are often referred to as “mackerel sky”. The ripples in these clouds look like the scales on a fish and are a sign of unsettled weather to come.

Cirrocumulus

Cirrostratus These clouds are the color of milk, are thin, and form high up. They bring rain or snow and often cause the sun or moon to have the image of a halo around it.

Cirrostratus

Altostratus These are thin, gray clouds that bring rain.

Altostratus

Fluffy, gray clouds which either bring rain or sunshine. Altocumulus Fluffy, gray clouds which either bring rain or sunshine.

Altocumulus

Thick, gray clouds that bring rain or snow. Nimbostratus Thick, gray clouds that bring rain or snow.

Nimbostratus

Stratus Gray clouds that bring drizzle and cause hill fog. These clouds are often low to the ground.

Stratus

Stratocumulus These clouds are often made up of uneven patches that appear after a storm. These clouds are a sign of drier weather to come.

Stratocumulus

Cumulus Fluffy clouds that look like cauliflowers and appear in sunny, summer skies. In the morning they form before the storm and in the afternoon they form after the storm.

Cumulus

Cumulonimbus These are towering clouds that bring thunderstorms that include rain, snow, or hail.

Cumulonimbus

THE END