Can you tell the weather by looking at the clouds?

The lightest and tallest clouds are called cirrus clouds. This kind of cloud is very thin, and sunlight can shine through the clouds to the ground, and the light and shadow of houses and trees are still very clear. Cirrus clouds float in strands, sometimes like a piece of white feathers, sometimes like a wisp of white silk yarn. If cirrus clouds are arranged in groups in the sky, like scaly waves caused by a breeze blowing across the water, they are cirrocumulus clouds.

Cirrus clouds and cirrocumulus clouds are both very high, where there is less moisture, and they generally do not bring rain or snow. There are also white clouds that look like cotton balls, called cumulus clouds. They are often found in the sky at about 2,000 meters, scattered one after another, reflecting the bright sunshine, and the clouds are surrounded by a golden glow. Cumulus clouds appear in the morning, become heavier in the afternoon, and gradually dissipate in the evening.

On sunny days, we will occasionally see a type of altocumulus clouds. Altocumulus is a group of oblate spherical clouds, arranged very evenly. The blue sky is exposed between the clouds. From a distance, they look like snow-white sheep on the grassland. Cirrus, cirrocumulus, cumulus and altocumulus clouds are all beautiful.

When the continuous rain and snow are about to come, cirrus clouds are gathering, and a thin layer of clouds gradually appears in the sky, as if covered with a white silk curtain. This kind of cloud is called cirrostratus.

Cirrostratus clouds slowly advance and the weather will turn cloudy. Then, the clouds became lower and lower, and thicker and thicker. Looking at the sun or moon through the clouds was like a layer of frosted glass, hazy. At this time, the cirrostratus cloud has changed its name, and it is time to call it an altostratus cloud.

Altostratus clouds appear, and it often rains or snows within a few hours. Finally, the clouds became lower and thicker, the sun and moon were hidden, and the sky was filled with dark gray clouds, called nimbostratus clouds. Once nimbostratus clouds form, continuous rain and snow will follow.