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A cloud is a visible mass of condensed droplets or frozen crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of the Earth.
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48 Cloud topics matching:
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| x name | x image | x Appearance | x Minimum Altitude (m) | x Maximum Altitude (m) | x article |
| x Stratus |
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Horizontal layers | 2,000 m |
A stratus cloud (St) is a cloud belonging to a class characterized by horizontal layering with a uniform base, as opposed to convective clouds that are as tall or taller than wide (these are termed cumulus clouds). More specifically, the term...
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| x Cirrus |
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Thin, wisplike strands | 7,000 m |
Cirrus clouds generally refer to atmospheric clouds that are characterized by thin, wisplike strands, often accompanied by tufts, leading to their common (non-standard) name of mare's tail. Sometimes these clouds are so extensive that they are...
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| x Altostratus |
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Sheet or layer | 2,000 m | 5,000 m |
Altostratus is a cloud belonging to a class characterized by a generally uniform gray sheet or layer, lighter in color than nimbostratus and darker than cirrostratus. The sun can be seen shining through them, and they frequently cover the whole sky....
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| x Cirrus uncinus | Curly | 7,000 m |
Cirrus uncinus is a type of cirrus cloud. The name cirrus uncinus is derived from Latin, meaning "curly hooks". Also known as mares' tails, these clouds are generally sparse in the sky, and very thin.
The clouds occur at very high altitudes, at a...
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| x Cumulonimbus incus | Anvil shaped | 0 m | 23,000 m |
A cumulonimbus incus (Latin incus, "anvil") is a cumulonimbus cloud which has reached the level of stratospheric stability and has formed the characteristic flat, anvil-top shape. It can cause a supercell and then a tornado.
A cumulonimbus incus is...
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| x Cumulonimbus |
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2,000 m | 15,000 m |
Cumulonimbus (Cb) is a type of cloud that is tall, dense, and involved in thunderstorms and other intense weather. Cumulonimbus means "column rain" in Latin. It is a result of atmospheric instability. These clouds can form alone, in clusters, or...
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| x Pileus |
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Hoodlike |
A pileus (Latin for cap) is a small, horizontal cloud that can appear above a cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud, giving the parent cloud a characteristic "hoodlike" appearance. Pilei tend to change shape rapidly. They are formed by strong updrafts...
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| x Kelvin-Helmholtz instability |
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Kelvin–Helmholtz instability can occur when velocity shear is present within a continuous fluid or, when there is sufficient velocity difference across the interface between two fluids. One example is wind blowing over a water surface, where the...
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| x Cirrostratus |
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White veil | 6,000 m | 12,000 m |
Cirrostratus clouds are thin, generally uniform clouds, composed of ice-crystals, capable of forming halos. They are usually located above 5.5 km . When thick enough to be seen, they are whitish, usually with no distinguishing features. When...
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| x Cirrocumulus |
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6,000 m | 12,000 m |
Cirrocumulus clouds are high-altitude clouds that usually occur at an altitude of 5 km to 12 km. Like other cumulus clouds, cirrocumulus clouds signify convection. Unlike other cirrus clouds, cirrocumulus include a small amount of liquid water...
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| x Contrail |
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Contrails (short for "condensation trails") or vapour trails are basically artificial clouds, visible trails of condensed water vapour, made by the exhaust of aircraft engines. As the hot exhaust gases cool in the surrounding air they may...
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| x Altocumulus |
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2,400 m | 6,100 m |
Altocumulus (Alto, "high", cumulus, "heaped") is a cloud belonging to a class characterized by globular masses or rolls in layers or patches, the individual elements being larger and darker than those of cirrocumulus and smaller than those of...
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| x Altocumulus undulatus |
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Undulated | 2,400 m | 6,100 m |
The altocumulus undulatus is a mid-level cloud (about 8000 - 20,000 ft or 2400 - 6100 m), usually white or grey with layers or patches containing undulations that resemble "waves" or "ripples" in water. Elements within the cloud (such as the edges...
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| x Altocumulus mackerel sky |
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2,400 m | 6,100 m |
A mackerel sky is an indicator of moisture (the cloud) and instability (the cirrus-cumulus form) at intermediate levels (2400–6100 m, 8000-20,000 ft). If the lower atmosphere is stable and no moist air moves in, the weather will most likely remain...
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| x Altocumulus castellanus |
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2,000 m | 6,000 m |
Altocumulus Castellanus (ACCAS) is named for its tower-like projections that billow upwards from the base of the cloud. The base of the cloud can form as low as 2,000 metres (6,500 feet), or as high as 6,000 metres (20,000 feet).
Castellanus clouds...
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| x Altocumulus lenticularis |
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Lens-like | 6,000 m | 12,000 m |
Lenticular clouds are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned perpendicular to the wind direction. Lenticular clouds can be separated into altocumulus standing lenticularis (ACSL), stratocumulus standing...
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| x Altostratus undulatus |
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Undulated | 2,400 m | 6,100 m |
The altostratus undulatus is a type of low altocumulus cloud with signature undulations within it. These undulations may be visible (usually as "wavy bases"), but frequently they are indiscernible to the naked eye. These formations will generally...
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| x Nimbostratus |
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Formless layer | 2,400 m |
A Nimbostratus cloud is characterized by a formless cloud layer that is almost uniformly dark gray. "Nimbo" is from the Latin word "nimbus", meaning rain. It is a stratiform cloud that produces rain, developing cloud bases between the surface and...
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| x Cumulus humilis |
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500 m | 6,000 m |
Cumulus humilis is what is commonly referred to as "fair weather cumulus". In hot countries and over mountainous terrain these clouds occur at up to 6000 meters altitude, though elsewhere they are typically found lower.
They are formed by rising...
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| x Cumulus mediocris |
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Cumulus mediocris is a cloud form of the cumulus family, slightly larger in vertical development than Cumulus humilis. It may or may not show the cauliflower form characteristic of cumulus clouds. These clouds do not produce precipitation, but may...
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| x Stratocumulus |
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2,400 m |
A stratocumulus cloud belongs to a class of clouds characterized by large dark, rounded masses, usually in groups, lines, or waves, the individual elements being larger than those in altocumuli, and the whole being at a lower altitude, usually below...
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| x Cumulus |
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500 m | 6,000 m |
Cumulus clouds are a type of cloud with noticeable vertical development and clearly defined edges. Cumulus means "heap" or "pile" in Latin. They are often described as "puffy" or "cotton-like", or "poofy" in appearance. Cumulus clouds may appear...
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| x Cumulus congestus |
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5,000 m |
Cumulus congestus clouds (also towering cumulus) are characteristic of unstable areas of the atmosphere which are undergoing convection. They are often characterized by sharp outlines and great vertical development. Because cumulus congestus is...
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| x Fractus |
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Irregular | 1,500 m |
Fractus clouds are small, ragged cloud fragments which, usually found under an ambient cloud base, form or have broken off a larger cloud, and are generally sheared by and shredded-looking due to strong winds. Fractus have irregular patterns,...
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| x Cumulonimbus calvus |
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Cumulonimbus calvus is a moderately tall cumulonimbus cloud which is capable of precipitation, but has not yet reached the height where it forms into a cumulonimbus capillatus (fibrous-top) or cumulonimbus incus (anvil-top). Cumulonimbus calvus...
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| x Mammatus |
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Mammatus, also known as mammatocumulus, meaning "Mammary cloud" or "Breast cloud" is a meteorological term applied to a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud. The name "mammatus" is derived from the Latin mamma (udder...
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| x Pyrocumulus cloud |
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A pyrocumulus, or, literally, fire cloud, is a dense cumuliform cloud associated with fire or volcanic activity.
A pyrocumulus is similar dynamically in some ways to a firestorm, and the two phenomena may occur in conjunction with each other....
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| x Cumulus castellanus cloud |
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Cumulus castellanus (from Latin castellanus, castle) is a type of cumulus cloud that is distinctive because it displays multiple towers arising from its top, indicating significant vertical air movement. They are so named because they somewhat...
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| x Polar stratospheric cloud |
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Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), also known as nacreous clouds, are clouds in the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 meters (50,000–80,000 ft). They are implicated in the formation of ozone holes; their effects on ozone...
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| x Cirrocumulus undulatus |
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Cirrocumulus undulatus are patches or layers of small puffy clouds arranged in bands. They have a rippled appearance due to wind shear and usually cover only a small portion of the sky. Occasionally, they comprise two or more wave forms superposed...
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| x Cirrus castellanus cloud |
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Cirrus castellatus cloud is a type of cirrus cloud. Its name comes from the word castellatus, which means castlelike or tower-like in Latin. Like all cirrus clouds, the clouds occur at high altitudes. The cirrus castellatus is a series of dense...
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| x Cirrus duplicatus cloud |
Cirrus duplicatus cloud is a type of cirrus cloud. Like all cirrus clouds, the clouds occur at high altitudes.
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| x Sierra Wave |
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The Sierra Wave is a type of lenticular cloud created by winds that lift off the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. Known as lee waves, Sierra Waves form as winds hit the Sierra Nevada and are forced to rise, causing water vapor to condense...
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| x Wall cloud |
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A wall cloud, or pedestal cloud, is a cloud formation associated with thunderstorms. It is a marked lowering typically beneath the rain-free base (RFB) portion of a deep cumulus cloud (normally cumulonimbus but on rare occasion cumulus congestus),...
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| x Iridescent Cloud |
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Cloud iridescence or irisation is the occurrence of colors in a cloud not dissimilar to those seen in oil films on puddles. It is fairly uncommon phenomena and is usually observed in altocumulus, cirrocumulus and lenticular clouds but very rarely in...
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| x Noctilucent cloud |
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Noctilucent clouds, are tenuous cloud-like phenomena that are the "ragged-edge" of a much brighter and pervasive polar cloud layer called polar mesospheric clouds in the upper atmosphere, visible in a deep twilight. They are made of crystals of...
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| x Morning glory cloud |
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The Morning Glory cloud is a rare meteorological phenomenon observed in Northern Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria. A Morning Glory cloud is a roll cloud that can be up to 1000 kilometres long, 1 to 2 kilometres high, and can move at speeds up to 60...
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| x Wave cloud |
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A wave cloud is a cloud form created by atmospheric standing waves. These waves are created as stable air flows over a mountain range, and can either form above or in the lee of the range. As an air mass travels through the wave, it undergoes...
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| x Funnel cloud |
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A funnel cloud is a funnel-shaped cloud of condensed water droplets, associated with a rotating column of wind and extending from the base of a cloud (usually a cumulonimbus or towering cumulus cloud) but not reaching the ground or a water surface....
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| x Cloud street |
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Cloud streets are rows of cumulus or cumulus-type clouds aligned parallel to the low-level wind.
The most favorable conditions for their formation occur when the lowermost layer of air is unstable, but is capped by an inversion-by a stable layer of...
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| x Lee waves |
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In meteorology, lee waves are atmospheric standing waves. The most common form is mountain waves, which are atmospheric internal gravity waves. These were discovered in 1933 by two German glider pilots, Hans Deutschmann and Wolf Hirth, above the...
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| x Nimbus cloud |
A nimbus cloud is a cloud that produces precipitation. Usually the precipitation reaches the ground as rain, hail or snow, however, that is not a requirement, falling precipitation may evaporate as virga.
Nimbus is a Latin word meaning cloud or rain...
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| x Earthquake cloud |
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Earthquake clouds are clouds claimed to be signs of imminent earthquakes. They have been described in antiquity: In chapter 32 of his work Brihat Samhita, Indian scholar Varahamihira (505 – 587) discussed a number of signs warning of earthquakes,...
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| x Turkey tower |
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Turkey tower is slang for a narrow, individual towering cloud from a small Cumulus cloud which develops and suddenly falls apart. Sudden development of turkey towers could signify the breaking or weakening of a capping inversion.
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| x Arcus cloud |
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An arcus cloud is a low, horizontal cloud formation associated with the leading edge of thunderstorm outflow, or occasionally with a cold front even in the absence of thunderstorms. Roll clouds and shelf clouds are the two types of arcus clouds,...
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| x Camanchacas |
Camanchacas are cloud banks that forms in the coast of Atacama Desert and moves inland. On the side of the mountains where this cloud bank forms, it is a dense fog that does not drop any rain. Scientists have devised a fog collection system of...
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| x Actinoform cloud |
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An actinoform or actiniform cloud is a collection of marine low clouds that takes a distinct shape. They are named after the Greek word for "ray" due to their radial structure. Actinoform clouds can spread out over 300 kilometers (187 miles) across...
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| x Ship tracks |
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Ship tracks are clouds that form around the exhaust released by ships into the still ocean air. Water molecules collect around the tiny particles (aerosols) from exhaust to form a cloud seed. More and more water accumulates on the seed until a...
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