Identify Clouds

Cumulus

Cumulus is the white fair-weather cloud with a flat base and cauliflower top.

💡 Did you know? Its flat base marks exactly the condensation level.

Cumulonimbus

Cumulonimbus is the thunderstorm tower with an anvil-shaped top.

💡 Did you know? It is the only cloud reaching through all three levels.

Cirrus

Cirrus clouds are thin, feathery streaks of pure ice crystals.

💡 Did you know? They sit so high that they never bring rain.

Cirrocumulus

Cirrocumulus forms fine, grainy cloudlets like sand ripples on a beach.

💡 Did you know? Sailors called this sky a ‘mackerel sky’.

Stratus

Stratus is a low, uniformly grey blanket without structure.

💡 Did you know? When it touches the ground we call it fog.

Stratocumulus

Stratocumulus consists of coarse, dark rolls or patches with bright gaps.

💡 Did you know? It is the most common cloud on Earth.

Altocumulus

Altocumulus shows regular white patches at the middle level.

💡 Did you know? These are popularly known as a mackerel sky.

Nimbostratus

Nimbostratus is a thick, dark grey rain layer without visible outlines.

💡 Did you know? It delivers the classic hours-long steady rain.

Lenticular cloud

The lenticular cloud is a smooth lens hanging almost motionless over mountains.

💡 Did you know? Its UFO shape still prompts sightings of strange craft.

Mammatus

Mammatus are pouch-like bulges on the underside of a cloud.

💡 Did you know? They often hang beneath the anvil of a departing thunderstorm.

Noctilucent cloud

Noctilucent clouds shimmer silvery blue at around 80 kilometres altitude.

💡 Did you know? They are the highest clouds of all and visible only at twilight.

Contrail

Contrails are narrow, straight ice clouds behind aircraft.

💡 Did you know? If they linger, the upper air is humid: often a sign of an approaching low.