Why are high altitude clouds always so thin?
High altitude clouds, though they look thin, can be quite thick (like the anvil of a thunderhead can be hundreds of meters thick). For the most part, though, cirrus clouds are patches of ice crystals that occur in a very dry environment, so they have very little adhesion, and are apt to sublimate as they move into less dense (warmer) areas of the upper troposphere and their saturation vapor pressure (already low) drops below the ability of the ice to remain solid (think: dry ice) I know its tough to understand, but its the best I can do. Cloud physics is a rather tough subject to put in lay terms (I made a low B in my college course…and I was lucky!
