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Cloud Identification
Meteorologists generally classify clouds based on their height (or the
height of their bases if they grow vertically). Often what you see in the sky includes different types as there are
often more than one layer of clouds.
Clouds can be broken down into three main levels: High, Middle, and Low.
There are also those that span vertically through all layers, and there are a few miscellaneous types. I'll use some
photos that I have taken over the years to illustrate each type.
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High clouds include the wispy Cirrus, aka "mares tails", Cirrocumulus (AKA "mackerel sky" often seen at sunrise or
sunset), and cirrostratus (which covers the sky with a thick uniform haze that often makes "halos" or "sun
dogs"). |
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Mid-level clouds include the cellular Altocumulus
(often making for pretty sunrises and sunsets) -- see photo 1,
photo 2 (foreground) or
photo 3 (foreground). More uniform mid-level clouds (the sun
often shows as if through frosted glass) are referred to as Altostratus. Here is an
example photo of both mid-level cloud
classifications.
Lenticular clouds, a sub-category of Altocumulus, are formed
as air rushes over a mountain top, continually reforming a cloud which does not move. These clouds are sometimes
mistaken for UFOs. Here is another example. |
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Low-level clouds include the puffy Cumulus (AKA "cauliflower" clouds), Stratus, (thick,
grey, sometimes rolling, blanket-like clouds
often seen in the winter) and Nimbostratus -- chaotic, dark, menacing rain clouds which may also extend to
mid-levels (see photo 1 &
photo 2).
Fog (see photo 1 &
photo 2) is simply a layer of stratus clouds on the
ground. |
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Miscellaneous cloud types include Cumulonimbus clouds, which are thunderstorms that start as
innocent cumulus clouds but build into large mushroom-like (see above photo) or
anvil-like clouds. These clouds span all three
levels.
Mammatus clouds (seen at the top of the photo below) are
often observed on the underside of a thunderstorm's anvil, and indicate possible hail. |
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