Weather Academy: Cloud Types

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - Today on the Weather Academy, we’re going to be discussing cloud types. Now hope this will help you recognize the different clouds that we can see here across the ArkLaMiss. Now in our atmosphere, it has multiple layers, and we distinguish clouds by the level that they’re in. So we have not only low-level clouds, but mid-level and high level.

Some clouds that you will see at the low levels are stratus or stratocumulus. Sometimes these are not precipitation producers, but other times we can get a light drizzle from them. Cumulus clouds can also be seen at low levels, and these typically indicate fair weather. Another one nimbostratus, which also extends into the mid-levels is usually associated with those gray and gloomy rainy days.

Now talking about the mid-levels, you’ll notice that there are also different types of cumulus at those mid-levels. Also, cumulus is one of those and as well as altostratus. Again, for the majority of these kinds of features, some are fair-weather but they could produce a little bit of precipitation at times.

Now when we talk about high-level clouds, Cirrus is one of those and those are those big, wispy clouds looked like they just kind of stretch and elongate across the sky. You can also see cirrocumulus and cirrostratus. These are all made of ice crystals because they are at high levels of the atmosphere. And the mid-levels are clouds are made up of water droplets in ice crystals. And at low levels, clouds are made up of only water droplets.

Now I quickly want to talk about cumulonimbus. If conditions are fair and cumulus clouds develop, sometimes we have conditions where those cumulus clouds can continue to build up in the sky. These are what lead to our thunderstorms in which we typically see at all times during the year so that is one thing you know that you can keep an eye on and this is a guy to go back to kind of recognize what clouds we see across the ArkLaMiss.

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