Clouds are comprised of a mass of small droplets of water and ice or better summarized as condensed water and ice. Due to the water particles being so small they float in the air. Clouds form from the air rising from the ground upward causing the water molecules to clump together quickly. The water vapor starts to condense which causes a visible cloud. There are several different types of clouds, listed below are the names of the different clouds and their meaning. So be sure that when you see clouds forming, be sure to have umbrellas handy because you never know when it will start to rain!

Cirrus Clouds (Latin: “curl of hair” or “Mare's tail”): Forming at high altitudes between 5km and 14km (approximately 2.5-8.5 miles) where temperatures are at an extreme cold causes tiny crystals to be formed. The “curl” part of the cloud is formed from warm air passing by the cold air which generally indicates that bad weather is soon approaching.

Cumulus Clouds (named after the word “heap”): Cumulus clouds are said to look like wads of cotton balls, wool or cauliflower forming generally at altitudes of 500 meters (slightly less than a mile). Generally, you see cumulus clouds form when there is favorable weather. Pockets of moist, warm air causes the tiny water droplets to rise quickly where the air is cooler forming the clouds to look like cotton balls.

Stratus Clouds (Latin: stratus- “layers”): Although the layers are hard to see with the naked eye, stratus clouds are compromised of layers that range anywhere from 1 km think to 1000 km wide (less than a mile to over 600 miles). This type of cloud is formed by a layer of warm, humid air which rises over large bodies of colder air. Generally, you'll see these types of clouds when it is gloomy as well as rain that's a drizzle. Stratus clouds often look like a layer of fog that sometimes form on the ground over bodies of water.

There are about ten different varieties of clouds that are combinations of these three major cloud formations. Some of the combinations are cumulonimus, stratocumulus, and cirrostratus clouds.

Unique Cloud Links:

Stratocumulus Clouds

Shelf Clouds

Roll Clouds

Lenticular Clouds

Cirrus Kelvin-Helmholtz

Mushroom Clouds

Noctilucent Clouds

Altocumulus Castelanus

Mammatus Clouds

Nacreous Clouds