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Cloud Types and the Weather They Signal

Learn to identify the major cloud types and read the weather they forecast.

Science28 items3 levelsDifficulty 2/5
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Levels

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1
Common Clouds
8 items
2
Cloud Levels & Features
10 items
3
Advanced Meteorology
10 items

All 28 cards

Which fluffy, white, cotton-like clouds with flat bases signal fair weather?
Cumulus
Which thin, wispy, feather-like high clouds are made of ice crystals?
Cirrus
Which flat, gray layer covering the whole sky like a blanket can bring drizzle?
Stratus
Which tall, towering storm cloud brings thunderstorms, heavy rain, and lightning?
Cumulonimbus
Which dark, thick, low layer of cloud produces steady, continuous rain or snow?
Nimbostratus
What does the prefix or suffix 'nimbus' indicate about a cloud?
It produces rain
What general weather do cumulus clouds on a sunny day usually mean?
Fair weather
Which low, lumpy, gray cloud layer rarely produces significant rain?
Stratocumulus
What does the prefix 'cirro-' tell you about a cloud's altitude?
High altitude
What does the prefix 'alto-' tell you about a cloud's altitude?
Middle altitude
Which mid-level grayish cloud layer often precedes a warm front and steady rain?
Altostratus
Which mid-level clouds forming rounded white or gray patches resemble a 'mackerel sky'?
Altocumulus
Which thin, sheet-like high cloud creates a halo around the sun or moon?
Cirrostratus
Which high cloud forms small, rippled rows often called a 'mackerel sky'?
Cirrocumulus
Spreading cirrus and cirrostratus clouds often signal what approaching weather system?
Warm front
Which type of fog-like cloud forms at ground level?
Fog
At roughly what altitude do high-level clouds typically form (in km)?
Above 6 km
A halo around the sun from cirrostratus often means what is coming within a day?
Rain
What is the flat, spreading top of a mature cumulonimbus cloud called?
Anvil
What pouch-like cloud structures hanging beneath a cloud base can signal severe weather?
Mammatus
What is the rare, lens-shaped cloud often seen over mountains called?
Lenticular
What rotating, lowered cloud beneath a thunderstorm can produce tornadoes?
Wall cloud
What rare clouds form at the edge of space and glow after sunset?
Noctilucent
What term describes a low, horizontal, tube-shaped roll cloud at a storm's leading edge?
Shelf cloud
What wave-like clouds resembling breaking ocean waves indicate atmospheric instability?
Kelvin-Helmholtz
What name is given to clouds that produce visible streaks of falling precipitation that evaporate before reaching the ground?
Virga
What contrails and other clouds caused by aircraft or human activity are collectively named?
Homogenitus
What is the scientific organization's reference for cloud classification, naming three main altitude levels plus vertical clouds?
International Cloud Atlas

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