How many types of clouds are there and what are their different characteristics?

Generally divided into ten categories:

First of all, cirrus clouds-sunny days

This is the highest cloud from the ground among the ten kinds of clouds. The bottom of the cloud is about 5 kilometers from the ground and consists of tiny ice crystals. The water content is very small, so it usually doesn't rain. Cirrus cloud is a "systematic cloud" produced by large-scale cold and warm air movement.

Before a large-scale cloud system invaded a place, cirrus clouds were often regarded as "Depth Charge". Therefore, cirrus clouds can predict the weather well. According to its structure and shape, cirrus clouds can be divided into several categories:

1. Cirrus clouds and white clouds are fibrous in structure and diverse in shape, such as silk, feathers and ponytails.

2. Hook-shaped cirrus clouds, the cloud filaments are arranged in parallel, and there are small hooks or clusters at the upper end.

3. Dense cirrus clouds, thick clouds, slight shadows, thin edges, and white hairy filamentary fiber structure.

Cirrus clouds mostly appear on sunny days. If there are fewer and fewer cirrus clouds in the sky and no other clouds appear, it will be all right in the next few days. If there are more and more cirrus clouds, followed by cirrostratus, upper clouds and nimbostratus, it will be continuous precipitation with the arrival of nimbostratus. This is the case with the agricultural proverb "Clouds are hanging in the sky and rain is dripping on the ground".

Second, thistle-sunny day

Its clouds are like fine scales and silver patches of crucian carp, arranged in order; Sometimes the clouds are like a string of ping-pong balls, shining with white light. This is the "fish scale day" in agricultural proverbs. "Fish Scale Day" often indicates a weather process.

Third, cirrostratus-sunny or cloudy?

Cirrostratus is usually thin and pale white, just like a silk screen in the sky. If you don't look carefully, you will think it is sunny. Because the sun shines through the clouds, the ground can still leave the shadow of objects. A remarkable feature of cirrostratus is that you can see the halo around the sun or the moon (solar or lunar halo) from the ground.

So as long as you see a halo around the sun and the moon, you can be sure that it is cirrostratus in the sky. There are often large areas of high-level clouds and nimbostratus behind cirrostratus, so cirrostratus is also a precursor of wind and rain. But it doesn't usually rain in cirrostratus itself. Only in the north can there be snow when cirrostratus is thick in winter.

Fourth, cumulus clouds-cloudy to cloudy

Clouds of high cumulus clouds are often arranged in order, like large fish scales or similar tiles. There is sunshine between the clouds, and the sky is half cloudy and half sunny; Even if the clouds are cloudy and thick, it is only cloudy, and the probability of rain is very small. Therefore, cumulus clouds are generally a sign of sunny weather. An agricultural proverb says, "The carp spots in the sky don't need to be turned over in the sun." Wayun, Sun is dead.

But in addition to translucent cumulus clouds like "carp spot", there are flocculent cumulus clouds and fort cumulus clouds, which are all signs of thunderstorm weather.

As the name implies, flocculent clouds are like cotton wool, and the edges of the clouds are extremely broken, piece by piece, like torn old cotton balls. Fort-shaped cumulus clouds are long and narrow, with a straight bottom and a rugged top, just like castles, and undulating clouds stand in the distance, just like the stacks of the Great Wall, also called "battery clouds".

This is caused by unstable airflow in the atmosphere. Unstable atmospheric structure is a necessary condition for convective weather. Therefore, flocculent cumulus clouds and fort cumulus clouds are obvious signs of thunderstorm weather. There is a cloud in the agricultural proverb: "There are battery clouds in the sky and rain in the ground".

5. High clouds-cloudy or light rain

The high-rise clouds covered the whole sky like a huge curtain. Although the outlines of the sun and the moon can sometimes be seen, there seems to be no halo, and objects on the ground cannot be reflected by a layer of ground glass. High-level clouds are layered clouds, which are usually formed when warm air climbs the slope of cold air.

This stratiform cloud is preceded by cirrus and followed by nimbostratus. Therefore, when high-level clouds pass by, it is often followed by rain and snow brought by nimbostratus. The probability of precipitation in the upper cloud itself is small, but if it appears behind the cirrostratus, it indicates that there will be persistent precipitation.

6. Cumulus clouds-sunny, partly cloudy or cloudy.

Cumulus clouds are made up of small water droplets. According to its development, it can be divided into light cumulus and thick cumulus. Pale cumulus clouds, with flat bottom and flat top, are scattered in blocks, commonly known as "steamed bread clouds". A faint cumulus usually indicates sunny weather. In the morning, as the sun rises, the heat increases, and clouds of heated air rise into the air and become cold and white clouds. Before sunset, air convection weakened and light cumulus dissipated.

We call this kind of cloud that fluctuates with local thermal conditions "local cloud". If the updraft is strong, the light cumulus clouds will continue to develop upwards and form cauliflower-like clouds, which are called thick cumulus clouds.

Cumulus clouds fluctuate according to the normal daily variation on sunny days. Generally it doesn't rain for 24 hours. When the daily variation is destroyed, it indicates rainy weather.

Seven, cumulonimbus clouds-cloudy days, thunderstorms (hail)

Due to thermal convection, cumulus clouds develop from low altitude to middle altitude, and the clouds expand rapidly upward. Seen from a distance, it looks like a towering mountain peak. The cloud top is frozen, the color is gray, and the arc outline is blurred. At this time, cumulonimbus clouds developed into cumulonimbus clouds.

The initial stage of cumulonimbus cloud is called "bald cumulonimbus cloud". The cloud top continues to develop to high altitude and is blocked by a stable gas layer. The cloud top spreads around, shaped like an anvil and like an inverted broom. This shows that the huge cloud cluster has developed to a mature stage-mane cumulonimbus cloud. The masses call it "anvil cloud" or "broom cloud"

. Its cloud top can be as high as more than ten thousand meters. This huge cloud contains a lot of water droplets and ice crystals, and has sufficient precipitation conditions. Thunderstorms and hail are caused by such clouds. Sometimes, in just ten minutes or tens of minutes, it can rain tens of millimeters to hundreds of millimeters, which is one of the most important precipitation cloud systems.

It is difficult for local air to form cumulonimbus clouds by thermal convection only during the day, and strong cumulonimbus clouds can only develop with the invasion of cold air. This kind of cloud, which depends on the large-scale movement and interaction of cold and warm air, is called "system cloud" in meteorology, which is different from "local cloud"

Stratocumulus clouds-cloudy, cloudy, light rain and light snow

Clouds are generally large, with great differences in thickness and shape, some in strips, some in sheets, and some in clusters. Usually grayish white or gray, with loose structure. Thin clouds can identify the position of the sun, and thick clouds are darker. Clouds are often arranged in groups, rows or waves.

Stratocumulus clouds have light transmission and light avoidance. Translucent stratocumulus generally indicates good weather; Dark stratocumulus clouds, if the clouds are thicker and thicker, can form precipitation.

Nine, nimbostratus-continuous rain and snow

This is a cloud of continuous precipitation, gray and black, covering the whole day. Sometimes there are scattered broken rain clouds in nimbostratus, commonly known as "flying clouds" or "taking pigs across the river". This is the raindrop that just fell from the cloud. In the process of falling, it encountered high temperature, some of which evaporated into water vapor, then rose under the cloud, and turned into a cloud when it was cold. This shows that the water vapor in the cloud is quite rich, which indicates heavy rain.

Ten, stratus-Mao Mao rain.

Like fog. However, the fog is connected with the ground, and the stratus has left the ground. Stratus clouds cover the sky, the sky is gray, and sometimes it rains in Mao Mao. There are two kinds of stratus clouds, representing two different kinds of weather. One is in the foggy morning in summer. After the sun rises, stratus clouds gradually disintegrate into cumulus clouds, which is a sign of sunny days.

In another case, the stratus clouds did not dissipate after sunrise, and became thicker and lower to nimbostratus, so it was going to rain.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Cloud