Clouds/met

[scults]

Hi

Now I'm not sure if I'm just slow but i cant seem to remember all the clouds and what they do.
Does anyone have any material or a fun and easy way to remember them?

IT WOULD BE DEEPLY APPRECIATED

Thanks
Simon

[helimutt]

Strange question. They all 'do' the same thing generally. Block the view!!

Just watch out for CB's. (Clappy Bangers) Avoid if you can.

Cumuliform (Simpsons clouds)

Different levels of cloud? Any MET book can give you just what you need.

[gfunc]

Do you mean that you're having troubling linking the name (e.g. in a METAR) to what you expect? If this is the case you just have to remember your Latin (remember it is mandatory that all pilots know Latin!). There only a few words you add together to describe 90% of the common clouds:

Stratus = Layer
Cumulus = Heaped
Cirrus = Wispy
Alto = Middle
Fracto = Broken
Nimbo = Rain-bearing.

So from this you can interpret "Stratocumulus" as a layer of heaped cloud, "Altostratus" as a mid-level layer of cloud, "Cumulonimbus" as a heaped cloud that is raining and so on and so forth. There's only a few common types that you see the majority of the time and a few that you'll never see since they don't make really sense (e.g.cirronumbus or altocirrus).

I'm sure some cleverrichard will come along and detail the caveats in even more boring detail to make themselves feel better about themselves, but what I've written above has been enough for me to work in meteorology for six years.

Hope this helps,

Gareth.

[PAPI-74]

Cumulusgranitous - Mountain

Try getting the Mike Wickson book - Met for pilots

Great read.

The Cloud Appreciation Society (http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/)