Meteorology: Cloud classification
 

Good morning,

I wish to know different useful methods to learn clouds' name.
I mean i know the basics, but cloud naming while referring to real weather forecast outside, that is what i still cannot do.

In other words i still cannot identify the different clouds outside my window.

Please tell me of working methods of learning that.

Good day.

Do you have a pilots license? Do you know about fronts, convection, saturation, dew points, lapse rates and things like that? Clouds can tell you something about the weather, but you've got to understand how and why the clouds form before you can predict things. At the end of the day, this is because clouds are only the visible parts of weather. There's a lot of things to weather that we cannot see. Eg. temperature, wind, saturation.

But if you just want to impress your friends, here's the basic system:

- Any cloud which looks fairly flat is called "stratus"
- Any cloud which looks fluffy and like a coliflower is called "cumulo" or "cumulus"
-> Cumulostratus is a layer of coliflowers

- Lower level clouds do not get anything added to their name
- Any medium-level cloud gets "alto" added
- Any high-level cloud gets "stratus" or "strato" added.
-> Altocumulus is medium high coliflowers
-> Cirrostratus (sometimes just called cirrus) is a very high, flat layer of cloud which looks like a bridal veil

- Any cloud where rain falls out of is called "nimbus" or "nimbo"
-> Cumulonimbus is a coliflower cloud which produces rain (most often thunderstorms)
-> Nimbostratus is a layer of cloud which produces persistent rain/drizzle

All these different clouds have abbreviations too, based on their name. The ones most important for pilots are TCU (Towering Cumulus - a very tall coliflower which holds a lot of up- and downdraughts so you really don't want to fly through them) and CB (Cumulonimbus - Usually a thunderstorm with all the effects of a TCU, plus heavy rain/hail and lightning.)

Air BP did a wall poster if i remember for free. they have all the cloud pics and details on their website, see

http://www.bp.com/subsection.do?cate...ontentId=57737


Though if you wanted one and they did not have one available, you can buy them from

http://www.pooleys.com/prod_detail.cfm?product_id=314

Thanks a lot.
Do you know of any links that could provide me a guide on cloud naming?

Thank's again

http://www.wolkenatlas.de/

General text is German, cloud names are the internationally recognised Latin/Greek scientific names.

Umm english please.

Advisory circular 0045A, avaition weather...not only names the clouds, but gives you an understanding what they might mean in terms of stabilty icing turbulence etc. more important than just identification

wow, that rotor cloud near Mt. Ranier looks so peaceful let's fly up under it and have a look:eek:

The PPL Met book might be a good idea actually.

Try here http://weather.missouri.edu/OCA/
or here http://www.mid-c.com/manmar/The_Inte.htm
or better yet order the International Cloud Atlas http://www.wmo.int/pages/catalogue/N...ngfil/407.html