What are the types of clouds and how are they formed?
The visual appearance of clouds is defined in four primary groups: Cirrus: High clouds made of tiny ice crystals. They look like fine, wispy white strands of hair. Stratus: Layered, generally flat clouds. Stratus clouds can occur at various altitudes and can be thin or thick. Cumulus: Distinguished from stratus clouds by the fact that they are not flat and have a heaping appearance. Smaller cumulus clouds look like white cotton balls and are made up of billions of tiny water droplets. Nimbus: Clouds that are accompanied by rain. Clouds are further classified according to the height of the cloud base: High-level clouds: The prefix “cirr” is used to describe high clouds. The primary types include cirrus, cirrostratus and cirrocumulus. Mid-level clouds: The prefix “alto” is used to describe mid-level clouds. The primary types include altostratus and altocumulus. Low-level clouds: Examples of low-level clouds include stratus, stratocumulus and nimbostratus. Vertically developed clouds: The
