Table of Contents
What weather is associated with cirrus clouds? They often form in advance of a warm front, where the air masses meet at high levels, indicating a change in the weather is on the way. Technically these clouds produce precipitation but it never reaches the ground. Instead, it re-evaporates, creating virga clouds.
What weather do cirrus clouds bring?
They are composed of ice and are thin, wispy clouds blown in high winds into long streamers. Cirrus clouds are usually white and predict fair to pleasant weather. Cirrocumulus clouds are usually seen in the winter and indicate fair, but cold weather. In tropical regions, they may indicate an approaching hurricane.
What two things do cirrus clouds indicate?
When the clouds deepen and spread, especially when they are of the cirrus radiatus variety or cirrus fibratus species, this usually indicates an approaching weather front. If it is a warm front, the cirrus clouds spread out into cirrostratus, which then thicken and lower into altocumulus and altostratus.
How do cirrus clouds affect the atmosphere?
Cirrus clouds are high, cold clouds made of ice crystals. Cirrus clouds also absorb upwelling infrared radiation emitted by the surface and lower atmosphere. Indirectly, this produces a surface-warming effect by trapping heat, energy that might otherwise escape into outer space.
Do cirrus clouds mean rain?
Only at very high altitudes or latitudes do Cirrus produce rain at ground level. But if you notice that Cirrus begins to cover more of the sky, and gets lower and thicker, this is a good indication that a warm front is approaching.
What are 3 facts about cirrus clouds?
To decide if a cloud is a cirrus cloud, look for these things: The clouds are a very vivid white color. The clouds are floating very high up in the sky. The clouds are thin, feathery, and wispy. The cloud wisps are individual and not connected to each other.
How would you describe a cirrus cloud?
Cirrus clouds are wispy, feathery, and composed entirely of ice crystals. They often are the first sign of an approaching warm front or upper-level jet streak. Unlike cirrus, cirrostratus clouds form more of a widespread, veil-like layer (similar to what stratus clouds do in low levels).
What type of cloud will most likely produce a corona around the moon?
Altocumulus clouds can appear in a wide variety of different shapes. When these clouds are very thin or semi-transparent, you might see a series of colored rings appearing immediately around the moon or sun, causing an atmospheric effect called a corona.
How do you pronounce cirrus clouds?
noun, plural cir·rus for 1, cir·ri [sir-ahy] for 2, 3. Meteorology.
What does a nimbus cloud mean?
Definition of nimbus 1a : a luminous vapor, cloud, or atmosphere about a god or goddess when on earth. b : a cloud or atmosphere (as of romance) about a person or thing. 2 : an indication (such as a circle) of radiant light or glory about the head of a drawn or sculptured divinity, saint, or sovereign. 3a : a rain.
Do cirrus clouds primarily warm or cool the Earth?
As explained below, the high thin cirrus clouds tend to enhance the heating effect, and low thick stratocumulus clouds have the opposite effect, while deep convective clouds are neutral. The overall effect of all clouds together is that the Earth’s surface is cooler than it would be if the atmosphere had no clouds.
How far off the ground is a cirrus cloud?
Typically found at heights greater than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), cirrus clouds are composed of ice crystals that originate from the freezing of supercooled water droplets.
Do cirrus clouds form at low altitudes?
This is because they generally occur at higher temperatures and lower altitudes than cirrus and cirrostratus clouds. However, there are many cirrocumulus clouds that do form at low temperatures (<−30 °C) and altitudes where cirrus and cirrostratus form in the high troposphere (Figure 5).
What do lenticular clouds indicate?
Lenticular clouds indicate great instability in that layer of the atmosphere, and form in areas of mountain waves. Like ocean waves, these waves of air bouncing over the mountains are anything but stable. It makes sense that it would be a “rough ride”.
What happens when the above mentioned clouds turn gray?
Basically, clouds look gray when they block out sunlight. A cloud gets thicker as it gathers more water droplets and ice crystals. The thicker a cloud gets, the less light can pass through it. So when you look up at a rain cloud, the base or bottom of it looks gray.
What do cotton ball clouds mean?
Cumulus clouds are puffy white or light gray clouds that look like floating cotton balls. At this height, high winds will flatten the top of the cloud out into an anvil-like shape. Cumulonimbus clouds are associated with heavy rain, hail, lightning, and tornadoes.
Is there a nimbus cloud?
Nimbostratus clouds are dark, grey, featureless layers of cloud, thick enough to block out the Sun. Producing persistent rain, these clouds are often associated with frontal systems provided by mid-latitude cyclones. These are probably the least picturesque of all the main cloud types.
What is the highest cloud in the sky?
Noctilucent cloud Noctilucent clouds, or night shining clouds, are tenuous cloud-like phenomena in the upper atmosphere of Earth. They are the highest clouds in Earth’s atmosphere, located in the mesosphere at altitudes of around 76 to 85 km (249,000 to 279,000 ft).
Which type of clouds give rain answer?
The prefix “nimbo-” or the suffix “-nimbus” are low-level clouds that have their bases below 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) above the Earth. Clouds that produce rain and snow fall into this category. (“Nimbus” comes from the Latin word for “rain.”) Two examples are the nimbostratus or cumulonimbus clouds.
