Stratocumulus
Height: Low-level
Color: White
Shape: Fluffy
Weather: Appear before or after a storm
front
Stratocumulus clouds are somewhat similar
to cumulus clouds but are flatter, thicker, and
darker. There is less blue sky between the
clouds, and the weather will appear more cloudy
than sunny.
Stratus
Height: Low-level
Color: Gray or white
Shape: Featureless flat layer
Weather: Gloomy weather, sometimes with
light precipitation
Similar to fog (but on the horizon instead of on
the ground), stratus clouds are a gray featureless
layer of clouds that cover all or most of the sky.
With so many different kinds of clouds, not
all fit into the top ten. There are others that
occur with specific circumstances. We have
a few of them listed out because they are so
unique.
Mammatus clouds are actually
altocumulus, cirrus, cumulonimbus, or other
types of clouds that have these pouch-like shapes
hanging out of the bottom.
Orographic clouds get their shape
from mountains or hills that force the air to move
over or around them.
Lenticular clouds are shaped like a
lens or flying saucers! They may get their shape
from hilly terrain (another type of orographic
cloud) or just the way the air is rising over flat
terrain.
The Kelvin Helmholtz
formation looks like rolling
(undulating) waves, and is called the Kelvin-
Helmholtz cloud, named for the physicist who
first studied its flowing formation.
Of f icialKidsMag.com • JANUARY 2020 • 45
