Where are stratus clouds formed?

Where are stratus clouds formed?

Stratus clouds form in calm, stable conditions when gentle breezes raise cool, moist air over colder land or ocean surfaces. These clouds can exist in a variety of thicknesses and are sometimes opaque enough to darken days, allowing for little light to pass through.

Where can altostratus be found?

middle cloud level
Definition: Sheet of featureless, gray clouds in the middle cloud level capable of masking the sun. Description & Characteristics. Altostratus clouds are found in the middle cloud level. And unlike their altocumulus counterpart, they’re often boring to look at.

What layer of the atmosphere are altostratus?

stratiform clouds are known as altostratus. In the upper troposphere, the terms cirrostratus and cirrus are used. The cirrus cloud type refers to thin, often wispy, cirrostratus clouds. Stratiform clouds that both extend through a large fraction of the troposphere and precipitate are called nimbostratus.

How are altostratus formed?

How do altostratus clouds form? Altostratus layers are often composed of both water and ice and usually form when a layer of cirrostratus descends from a higher level. The Sun often cannot cast shadows when shining through altostratus clouds.

Where is stratus located?

They are found at low altitudes, and is a good sign of atmospheric stability, which indicates continuous stable weather. Stratus nebulosus may produce light rain and drizzle or flakes of snow.

Where can you find stratus?

stratus clouds are those clouds that resemble a sheet across the atmosphere. These clouds typically rest at a low altitude, found below 6,000 ft. (2,000 m.). Their color can vary between white to dark gray.

Where are cumulus clouds located?

Cumulus clouds are a genus of free-convective low-level cloud along with the related limited-convective cloud stratocumulus. These clouds form from ground level to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) at all latitudes.

What is the layer of clouds called?

Clouds generally form within the troposphere, or the layer of atmosphere closest to the earth.

How do cirrostratus clouds form?

Cirrostratus are sheet-like, high-level clouds composed of ice crystals. These high-level clouds typically form when a broad layer of air is lifted by large-scale convergence. Photograph by: Rauber. Sometimes the only indication of their presence is given by an observed halo around the sun or moon.

Where are cirrus clouds located?

The thin, wispy clouds known as “cirrus” cover nearly a third of the globe and are found high in the atmosphere—5 to 10 miles above the surface.

What altitude do stratus clouds form?

Stratus. Usually forms between the surface and 2,000ft, but cloud base can be up to 4,000ft. Thick stratus can produce considerable precipitation, particularly in hilly or coastal regions, though in some cases this precipitation may be falling from higher clouds such as nimbostratus.

How are altostratus clouds related to the Sun?

The Sun often cannot cast shadows when shining through altostratus clouds. These layers can sometimes contribute to the formation of optical effects such as coronas and iridescence. What weather is associated with altostratus clouds?

Which is the first type of stratus cloud?

Cirrostratus clouds are the first type of stratus clouds. Their name indicates their structure: cirro meaning wispy and stratus meaning with layers. Thus, cirrostratus clouds are wispy clouds with layers or sheets. They occur very high in altitude, as all cirrus clouds do, at around 18,000 feet or above.

What do the layers of altostratus look like?

Altostratus layers almost always gradually end, being surrounded by thin and sparse cirrus formations, reminiscent of Cirrus spissatus.

Is the altostratus made of ice or water?

Altostratus can be composed of ice crystals. In some ice crystal altostratus, very thin, rapidly disappearing horizontal sheets of water droplets appear at random.