Clouds of the Day - Monday, November 9, 2020

Stratocumulus clouds look like cumulus and stratus all rolled into one cloud. The two photos below show one example of stratocumulus. The cumulus are in a layer which gives them the stratus layered characteristic while also having the vertical development of cumulus clouds. As you will see by looking through this blog stratocumulus may have different looks but they all feature elements of stratus and cumulus. They must form a layer and they must have internal formations of cumulus, usually as individual cells or wavy rolls.

There is a small patch between the trees in the bottom photo that really looks like cumulus because of the individual cellular structure. It is a close-up of the photo above it. Since it is within a general layer formation I would just call the entire formation stratocumulus, but one could certainly argue that that small area is more of the cumulus formation. There is room for a difference of opinion.

Stratocumulus

Stratocumulus