Thin clouds, low thick clouds, cirrus clouds, cirrocumulus, blind cumulus clouds, what else do you know? What are their characteristics?

The formation and growth of clouds is a very complicated physical process, which is based on the interaction of temperature, humidity, airflow, the number of condensation nuclei and ice nuclei in the atmosphere at that time, forming colorful clouds with the characteristics of instantaneous change. Only by mastering the characteristics of clouds can we accurately identify all kinds of clouds and continuously improve the level of observing clouds.

(1) low cloud

Low clouds: Cumulonimbus, Cumulonimbus, Stratocumulus, Stratocumulus and nimbostratus.

Low clouds are mostly composed of tiny water droplets. Thick or vertical low clouds are composed of tiny water droplets in the lower part and tiny water droplets, supercooled water droplets and ice crystals in the upper part. The height of the low cloud base from the ground is relatively low, generally less than 2500 meters, which varies with seasons, weather conditions and different latitudes and longitudes.

Most low clouds are likely to produce precipitation, including continuous precipitation in nimbostratus, visible precipitation in cumulonimbus clouds, and sometimes heavy precipitation.

1, cumulus Cu

Well-defined, convex and flat, many unconnected clouds; It is a cloud formed by condensation of water vapor or convection condensation of low-level air in winter.

Cu hum cumulus is in the early stage of development, with flat bottom, clear outline in the north, small individual, arc-shaped uplift at the top, horizontal width greater than the vertical thickness of the cloud, white thin cloud and light shadow in the middle of thick cloud. Because of more water vapor, the outline of light cumulus clouds in the south is not as clear as that in the north. Light cumulus clouds are scattered or distributed in groups in the air, which is more common in sunny days.

Light cumulus clouds are composed of small water droplets with a diameter of 5-30 microns, while light cumulus clouds in the north and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in winter are composed of supercooled water droplets or ice crystals, sometimes with sporadic rain and snow.

Cumulus Fc consists of 1- 15 micron water droplets. Clouds are small, scattered in the sky, with changeable shapes and white fragments, mostly broken or nascent cumulus clouds.

Clusters of cumulus clouds are tall, well-defined, flat and dark at the bottom, much like a tall tower, with vigorous vertical development, vertical thickness exceeding horizontal width, and circular overlapping at the top, much like cauliflower.

Cumulus clouds are composed of water droplets of different sizes, and the diameter of small water droplets is between 5 and 50 microns. Large water droplets mostly appear between 100-200 microns. When the cloud develops vigorously, the updraft in the cloud can reach 10-20m/s, and when the cloud top temperature is lower than-10℃, supercooled water droplets, frozen water droplets, graupel and ice crystals will appear. Whenever the development of cumulus clouds is very vigorous, there will be a white cloud like a headscarf at the top of the cloud, which is called a cloud.

Cumulus clouds are developed or merged from light cumulus clouds. When the development is vigorous, there is generally no precipitation, but sometimes there are small showers. If there are cumulus clouds in the morning, it means that the atmospheric stratification is unstable and there will be thunderstorms.

2. Cumulonimbus Cloud Cb

Cumulonimbus clouds are evolved from cumulonimbus clouds. The cloud body is thick and huge, developing vigorously vertically, much like a towering mountain. The top of the cumulonimbus cloud has crystallized into a white, furry fiber structure. With the development of the cloud, the cloud top gradually flattened into an anvil. The bottom of cumulonimbus clouds is very dark, and there are often rain banners hanging down or broken rain clouds.

The lower part of cumulonimbus cloud is composed of water droplets and supercooled water droplets, and the upper part is composed of supercooled water droplets, frozen water droplets, ice crystals and snow crystals. At the most vigorous stage of development, there are different scales of graupel particles and hail. There are strong ascending and descending airflow areas in cumulonimbus clouds. The larger ascending airflow speed can reach 30-35m/s, and the normal airflow degree can reach10m/s. The bottom of cumulonimbus clouds often has a rolling or suspended cloud bottom.

Cumulonimbus cloud is a kind of convective cloud, which often produces strong formation precipitation, accompanied by strong winds, lightning and other phenomena, sometimes there will be strong hail (called hail cloud), and sometimes there will be tornadoes.

Bald cumulonimbus Cb calv Bald cumulonimbus is a transitional stage from thick cumulonimbus to mane cumulonimbus. The cloud top has begun to crystallize, overlapping in a circular arc shape, and the outline is blurred. A small amount of white fluffy clouds have appeared, but they have not yet spread.

Cb cap, a bristle cumulonimbus, is a mature stage of cumulonimbus development. The top of the cloud has a white filamentous fiber structure, which has expanded into a mane-like cumulonimbus cloud or an anvil-like cumulonimbus cloud. The bottom of the cloud is dark and messy.

3. stratocumulus Sc

Clouds are uneven in size and thickness, and their shapes are quite different, such as strips, sheets or clusters, which are grayish white and dark gray. Thin stratocumulus can see the position of the sun, while thick stratocumulus is dark. The distribution of stratocumulus in the sky is different, some are arranged in rows or waves, and some are irregularly arranged.

The thickness of stratocumulus is between 100 m and 2000 m, and it is composed of water droplets with a diameter of 5-40 microns. Stratocumulus clouds in winter and plateau areas are composed of supercooled water droplets, ice crystals and snow crystals.

Stratocumulus clouds are formed by condensation of water vapor due to the mixing effect of fluctuation and turbulence in the atmosphere under general weather conditions. Sometimes it is formed by local radiation cooling. When the base of stratocumulus is low and the clouds are thick, there will often be short-term rainfall and snowfall in winter.

Se tra cloud in stratocumulus is thin, grayish white, neatly arranged, and the edge of stratocumulus is bright. There is a clear gap between clouds, which can tell the position of the sun and the moon. Stratocumulus clouds can be seen if there are clouds above them.

Shadow stratocumulus Sc op Shadow stratocumulus has dense clouds or bands, and the clouds are thick, dark gray and seamless. Most clouds can cover the stratocumulus of the sun and the moon, and the bottom of the clouds has obvious ups and downs, which cover the sky and sometimes produce precipitation.

Cumulonimbus stratocumulus Sc cug is a flat strip, gray-white, dark gray, with cumulus characteristics at the top. It is formed by falling cumulonimbus clouds or cumulonimbus clouds expanding and flattening; Sometimes it is formed by the direct influence of ground heat dissipation and air uplift at night. The appearance of cumulonimbus stratification shows that convection is weakened and tends to be stable, and sometimes there is sporadic rain.

Stratocumulus Sc cast Castle is slender, with a flat bottom and one or several cloud castles protruding from the top, but the heights are different, and there is a trend of continuous development, and the viewing angle width of clouds is greater than 5. From a distance, it looks like a castle or a long sawtooth. Fort stratocumulus is formed by strong updraft breaking through the stable gas layer in some areas and then continuing to develop. If the local water vapor conditions are good, the vertical airflow will continue to increase, which is beneficial to the development of cumulonimbus clouds and indicates that there will be thunderstorms in the local area.

Most stratocumulus in lentiform stratocumulus are thick in the middle and thin in the edge. They are distinct pod-shaped and spindle-shaped clouds under the action of standing waves formed by topography. They are distributed in the sky, and the viewing angle of clouds is 5-30.

4. Strasbourg Street

Clouds are relatively uniform and curtain-shaped, gray-white, like dense fog, with low cloud base, but ungrounded, and often cover mountains and high-rise buildings.

Stratus clouds are composed of water droplets or supercooled water droplets with a diameter of 5-30 microns. Stratospheric clouds are generally 400-500 meters thick.

Stratosphere clouds are formed under the condition of stable atmosphere due to strong radiation cooling or turbulent mixing at night, water vapor condensation or fog lifting. Stratocumulus often rises gradually after the sun rises, the stable layer is destroyed and the stratocumulus gradually dissipates. Stratospheric clouds in Mao Mao sometimes rain and light snow in winter.

Stratocumulus Fs is a stratocumulus formed by the rising of stratocumulus or radiation fog during the gradual dissipation of stratocumulus, which is changeable in shape, gray or grayish white, and it will be sunny when it appears.

5. rain tower Ns

The cloud base in the nimbostratus is very low, and the clouds are very thick, generally 4000-5000 meters thick, which can cover the sun and the moon and is dark gray. Broken rain clouds often appear at the bottom of the cloud. Nimbostratus covers a large area, often covering the sky.

The middle and lower part of the cloud consists of water droplets and supercooled water droplets. The central nimbostratus in the northern and plateau areas is composed of supercooled water droplets, ice crystals and snow crystals.

Nimbostratus often appears in warm front clouds and sometimes in other weather systems. It is formed by the upward sliding and adiabatic cooling of the wet air system. Continuous rainfall often occurs in nimbostratus. It snows in winter in the north, and it often happens in summer in plateau areas. The agricultural proverb "When the sky is covered with gray cloth, the rain will continue" refers to the precipitation in nimbostratus.

Broken rain clouds Fn have a very low cloud base, generally only 50-400 meters. Clouds are scattered, changeable in shape, fast moving and gray or dark gray. It often appears under nimbostratus, cumulonimbus clouds or thick high-level clouds. It is formed by the evaporation of raindrops or sublimation of snow crystals, the increase of humidity in the air and the condensation of water vapor under the action of turbulence.

(2) Zhongyun

Mesocumulus: stratocumulus and cumulus.

The cloud consists of tiny water droplets, supercooled water droplets or a mixture of ice crystals and snow crystals. The height of the cloud bottom in the middle cloud is generally between 2500 and 5000 meters. High-level clouds often have rainfall in summer and snowfall in winter. There will be no precipitation when the cumulus clouds are thin, but there will be rain (snow and banners) in the cumulus clouds in the plateau area.

1, high-level cloud as

High-level clouds are gray or gray-white clouds. The thickness of clouds is mostly between1500-3500m, and stripes often appear at the bottom of clouds. Generally speaking, high-level clouds can partially or completely cover the sky.

High-level clouds are mostly composed of water droplets with a diameter of 5-20 microns, supercooled water droplets, ice crystals and snow crystals (columnar, hexagonal, flaky, etc.). ).

Tra-like transparent high-level clouds are thin and uniform in thickness, but the top of the clouds fluctuates. The clouds are grayish white. Through the clouds, we can observe the vague outline of the sun and the moon, as if separated by a layer of ground glass.

Shaded high-level cloud As op is thick, but relatively uniform, with uneven top, gray or dark gray bottom, and stripes of light and dark can be observed at the bottom. Because of the thick clouds, the sun and the moon cannot be observed on the ground.

2. altocumulus Ac

Hypercumulus clouds are very small, obviously, with different thicknesses and shapes. Thin clouds are white, and the outlines of the sun and the moon can be observed. Thick clouds are dark gray, but the outline of the sun and the moon can't be seen clearly.

Ultra-high cumulus clouds are mostly oblate, flat, fish-scale or wavy dense clouds. The distribution in the sky is often densely arranged in rows or waves, and the viewing angle width of clouds is 1-5.

Cumulus clouds are composed of tiny water droplets or supercooled water droplets mixed with ice crystals. Every day and every month, when passing through the thin cumulus clouds, it is often observed that tiny water droplets or ice crystals in the cumulus clouds diffract light, forming a halo with blue inside and red outside, also known as China.

Ultra-high cumulus clouds are formed under the inversion layer at high altitude, and the cold air is saturated. Clouds are not thick, relatively stable and rarely change, indicating sunny days. The agricultural proverb "Clouds on the tile will burn people" and "There are carp spots in the sky, so you don't need to turn over the sun" means that it will clear up after this cumulus cloud appears. If the thickness of the altocumulus continues to thicken and gradually merge into layers, it means that the weather will change and there will even be precipitation.

The translucent Ac tra clouds are thin and white, and they are neatly arranged in the sky. There is a gap between clouds, and you can see the blue sky. Sometimes, if there is no gap between clouds, the edge is very bright, and the position of the sun and the moon can be distinguished by the edge of clouds.

The shadow cumulus Ac op cloud is thick and dark gray, and the clouds have merged into layers, so the sun and the moon are indistinguishable, and sometimes there is some precipitation.

Podlike cumulus clouds are thick in the middle, thin in the edge, dark gray in the middle, white in the edge, well-defined, generally pod-shaped or oval, and scattered in the sky in an arc. Whenever lenticular clouds block the sun and the moon, beautiful rainbows appear.

Pod-shaped cumulus clouds are produced by standing waves affecting the airflow in mountainous areas near the station, and often appear in sunny and windy weather.

Cumulonimbus cloud Ac cug is large and small, grayish white, slightly thick in the middle and slightly arched at the top. It is produced by the expansion and evolution of falling cumulonimbus clouds or cumulonimbus clouds. The appearance of this cloud indicates that the weather is gradually stabilizing.

Flocculent AC flo clouds vary in size and are cumulus-like. The lower part of the cloud is broken, much like broken cotton wool, scattered in the sky, with different heights, gray or gray, and snow banners may appear.

Flocculent cumulus clouds are formed by the mixture of unstable wet air layer and strong turbulence at high altitude. The appearance of such clouds in some areas indicates that there will be thunderstorms. An agricultural proverb says, "There are broken clouds in the morning and thunderstorms in the afternoon".

Fort-shaped altocumulus Ac cast altocumulus is distributed horizontally in the sky, with many upward bulges at the top, some like castles and some like sawtooth. The appearance of this kind of cloud indicates that there will be unstable thunderstorm weather, and the agricultural proverb "Lou Yun drenches people".