Clouds of the Day - Saturday, October 17, 2020

Clouds are not necessarily easy to identify. While we classify clouds into types based on their height of the ground and their shapes, textures, and precipitation, clouds do not always fit the mold. Clouds form on a continuum so sometimes they look like combinations of several clouds. All we can do is make our best estimate of the cloud type.

Below we have an altocumulus cloud because it is above 6,500 feet and below 16,500 feet. The cloud layer had cumulus elements, clouds with vertical development. They were mixed together in a layer, which is a stratus time cloud. The photo does not pick up the essence of the cloud except that it is possible to see some of the individual puffy elements found in cumulus.

Altocumulus

Altostratus layer with altostratus and altocumulus in the cloud patch below.