Clouds of the Day - Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Stratocumulus are in the low cloud family. The cloud elements are fairly large when compared with the higher altocumulus found in the middle levels.

Stratocumulus

Stratocumulus

Cirrostratus clouds often produce haloes as shown below. The halo photos here show only a portion of a circular halo that was around the Sun. The sunlight is being refracted (bent) by the ice crystals in the cirrus clouds.

Cirrostratus with halo

Cirrostratus

Cirrostratus with halo

Cirrostratus with halo

This photo illustrates how tough it can be to distinguish cloud types. There are likely three types blended together in the photo below. What we need to remember is cloud names help us distinguish cloud heights and the process that are forming the clouds. While we have specific names for clouds it can often be tough to distinguish differences. Clouds form in a continuum - not necessarily is discrete types so we often have types that are intermingled.

Cirrus (top), cirrostratus (middle), altostratus (bottom).