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How many different kinds of clouds are there? We've seen some really unusual shapes.
My Granddaughters really brought a smile to my face when they said "Grandma look at the cauliflower clouds." They really did look like cauliflower. I used to know the names of some, but the years have clouded my memory. We love looking at the clouds and finding shapes, faces, animals, etc
Thanks for your help. I've watched KSL Weather for over 50 years. It's the best, keep up the good work. Audrey S.
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Hey, thanks for the shout out, we love hearing positive feedback!
To answer your question isn't easy but we'll break it down and send you to where you can find more information to share with your family.
First of all, when we talk "clouds" (which often times with weather people, we do just that!), we mention the main types. We identify clouds by using the height of the cloud base and the appearance of the cloud.
Cloud heights:
Low Clouds (surface to 6500 ft) (no prefix) Usually made of water droplets (ice when it's cold enough), Middle Clouds (6500 to 20,000 ft) (alto) Made of water droplets and ice crystals, High Clouds (20,000 feet and up) (cirro) Made of ice crystals, Clouds with Vertical Development (clouds that can grow to 39,000 feet) (cumulus), Other Clouds (miscellaneous clouds)
There are four main types we use to identify the appearance of the clouds: Cumulus (heap), Stratus (layer), Cirrus (curl of hair), Nimbus (rain),
So you can combine these terms to get your cloud names. Such as an Altostratus cloud is a flat cloud at the mid levels. Or a Cumulonimbus cloud, a vertically developed cloud that is raining (or storming). Or a cirrocumulus cloud would be a high level cloud with some vertical development to it.
To answer how many types of clouds there are, your run of the mill cloud chart has about 35 clouds on it, and that's not all of them. Definitely 35+ but we must recall that optical effects are not clouds, such as a rainbow or a halo. You might find them because of clouds or raindrops or ice crystals but they themselves are not clouds.
If you keep your eyes to the sky you'll definitely be able to identify all the clouds and it's always good to review them. It's fun to look at clouds with the kids and check out the shapes they make here and there and it gets them thinking. Some links on the right will help you learn how to identify clouds and there's some photos so you can familiarize yourself with them.
Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman.
