Cumulus
This is a picture of cumulus clouds. This cumulus is less than 6,500 feet above the ground and is considered "low". These usually appear white and fluffy, resembling cauliflower. These particular cumulus clouds are called "cumulus humilus". They are common during afternoons of fair weather.

Going Up
Cumulus clouds aren't always "low", when they are 6,500 -25,000 feet above the ground they are now referred to as altocumulus. "Alto" means middle and altocumulus are quite simply cumulus clouds in the middle level of the troposphere.

Up, Up and Away
Higher than 25,000 feet you might find cirrocumulus. These are usually somewhat smaller than cumulus and altocumulus. They are less common than the other cumulus and do not typically cover a large portion of the sky.

Stratus
Stratus clouds tend to look similar to sheets. Similar to the low level cumulus above, these stratus are below 6,500 feet. Sometime these clouds appear completely flat. The same rules that applied to the fluffy cumulus clouds hold true for stratus. Light rain, drizzle or snow flurries may come from these clouds.

Cirrostratus
Cirrostratus clouds are in sheets, similar to stratus and altostratus. The prefix cirro tells us that this is a "high" cloud, above 25,000 feet. Often cirrostratus are very thin and the sun or moon can easily shine through them. The atmosphere at this level is usually so cold that these clouds are composed of ice crystals.

Cirrus
Cirrus clouds are high, thin and wispy clouds. Sometimes cirrus clouds are referred to as "mares' tails". The wind at this level of the atmosphere is typically strong and acts to shape the wispy clouds.

Rain Clouds

Nimbus
When part of the name of a cloud is nimbus, you can bet that it is raining. Nimbostratus clouds are simply stratus with rainfall. Nimbostratus clouds will usually produce steady light to moderate rain.

This is a cumulonimbus cloud, sometimes called an "anvil cloud" due to it's shape. Heavy rain is common with cumulonimbus clouds. Lightning, strong wind, hail and even tornadoes are possible with this type of cloud.

Strange Clouds
Every cloud is unique, like people. The cloud types shown in this lesson are all you will need for now. There are many other types and these are just a few, for fun.

Altocumulus Undulatus-This is just a fancy term for middle atmosphere, fluffy, wavy clouds. But it shows how in depth the naming process gets.

Wall Cloud-Stay away from this type of cloud. This is a storm chaser's dream come true. Tornadoes and very large hail are usually associated with this type of cloud. This can be found on the bottom of some cumulonimbus clouds. Typically the whole wall cloud is rotating. LOOK OUT!!!

Lenticular Cloud-This strange looking cloud is usually found downwind from mountains. During sunset, the clouds turn orange and red (like other clouds at sunset) and look a little spooky. Interestingly enough, there have been many UFO sightings on days when these clouds were present.