Cumulonimbus These clouds also have vertical growth and can grow up to 10 km high. At this height, high winds will flatten the top of the cloud out into an anvil-like shape. These clouds are thunderstorm clouds and are associated with heavy rain, snow, hail, lightning, and sometimes tornadoes.
One idea is that thus, the 10 types are:
Low-level clouds (cumulus, stratus, stratocumulus) that lie below 6,500 feet (1,981 m)
Middle clouds (altocumulus, nimbostratus, altostratus) that form between 6,500 and 20,000 feet (1981–6,096 m)
High-level clouds (cirrus, cirrocumulus, cirrostratus) that form above 20,000 feet (6,096 m)
More items.
What are high-level clouds called?
{ Refer to the chart below for examples of the various types of clouds. } High-level clouds occur above about 20,000 feet and are given the prefix ” cirro-“.
Low-level clouds are not given a prefix, although their names are derived from ” strato-” or “cumulo-“, depending on their characteristics. Low clouds occur below 6500 feet, and normally consist of liquid water droplets or even supercooled droplets, except during cold winter storms when ice crystals (and snow) comprise much of the clouds.
Which clouds are the highest clouds in the sky?
Click on the cloud images in the table to learn more about each cloud type. Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds in the sky, however they are not associated with weather like the rest of the clouds in this table.
So, what type of clouds form in the troposphere?
High clouds form in the highest and coldest region of the troposphere from about 5 to 12 km (16,500 to 40,000 ft) in temperate latitudes. At this altitude water almost always freezes so high clouds are generally composed of ice crystals or supercooled water droplets.
Some believe that Cirrostratus are thin and wispy. This a high thin layered type of cloud cover purely composed of ice crystals. It is quite difficult to detect these clouds since they are very high and thin. They occur at an altitude of above 18,000 feet and they signify high moisture content in the atmosphere.
The two main types of low clouds include stratus, which develop horizontally, and cumulus, which develop vertically. Stratus clouds are uniform and flat, producing a gray layer of cloud cover which may be precipitation-free or may cause periods of light precipitation or drizzle.
Cumulus congestus or towering cumulus. If enough atmospheric instability, moisture, and lift are present, then strong updrafts can develop in the cumulus cloud leading to a mature, deep cumulonimbus cloud, i. E, a thunderstorm producing heavy rain.
Nimbostratus clouds are dark at the bottom and light near the top. Nimbostratus is a cloud that is dark at the base but appears to be illuminate from the centre when observed from below.
Which type of clouds are formed by raising the thermal column?
This is a low altitude cloud formed by raising thermal column. They are grayish and are composed of both water droplets and ice crystals. These are the clouds that are formed on a misty or foggy day just above the fog and results to very light showers and in some instances light snow.
As a warm front approaches, cirrus clouds tend to thicken into cirrostratus, which may, in turn, thicken and lower into altostratus, stratus, and even nimbostratus. Finally, cirrocumulus clouds are layered clouds permeated with small cumuliform lumpiness.