33 types of clouds and locations

Cirrus

Cirrus cloudsCirrus clouds are delicate, feathery clouds that are made mostly of ice crystals. Their wispy shape comes from wind currents which twist and spread the ice crystals into strands.

Cirrostratus

Cirrostratus cloudsCirrostratus clouds are thin, white clouds that cover the whole sky like a veil. These clouds are most commonly seen in the winter, and can cause the appearance of a halo around the sun or the moon.

Cirrocumulus

Cirrocumulus cloudsCirrocumulus clouds are thin, sometimes patchy, sheet-like clouds. They sometimes look like they’re full of ripples or are made of small grains.

Mid-level Clouds (6,500-23,000 feet)

Altocumulus

Altocumulus cloudsAltocumulus clouds have several patchy white or gray layers, and seem to be made up of many small rows of fluffy ripples. They are lower than cirrus clouds, but still quite high. They are made of liquid water, but they don’t often produce rain.

Altostratus

Altostratus cloudsAltostratus clouds are gray or blue-gray mid-level clouds composed of ice crystals and water droplets. The clouds usually cover the entire sky.

Nimbostratus

Nimbostratus cloudsNimbostratus clouds are dark, gray clouds that seem to fade into falling rain or snow. They are so thick that they often blot out the sunlight.

Low Clouds (less than 6,500 feet)

Cumulus

Cumulus cloudsCumulus clouds look like fluffy, white cotton balls in the sky. They are beautiful in sunsets, and their varying sizes and shapes can make them fun to observe!

Stratus

Stratus cloudsStratus cloud often look like thin, white sheets covering the whole sky. Since they are so thin, they seldom produce much rain or snow. Sometimes, in the mountains or hills, these clouds appear to be fog.

Cumulonimbus

Cumulonimbus cloudCumulonimbus clouds grow on hot days when warm, wet air rises very high into the sky. From far away, they look like huge mountains or towers.

Stratocumulus

Stratocumulus cloudStratocumulus clouds are patchy gray or white clouds that often have a dark honeycomb-like appearance.

Special Clouds

Contrails

(Photo of white streaks of contrails in the sky) Contrails are made by high-flying jet airplanes. They are still clouds, though, because they are made of water droplets condensed from the water vapor in the exhaust of the jet engines.

Weather prediction: Contrails can provide information about the layers of moisture in the sky.

Mammatus clouds

Mammatus cloudsMammatus clouds are actually altocumulus, cirrus, cumulonimbus, or other types of clouds that have these pouch-like shapes hanging out of the bottom. The pouches are created when cold air within the cloud sinks down toward the Earth.

Orographic clouds

Orographic cloudsOrographic clouds get their shape from mountains or hills that force the air to move over or around them. They can also be formed by sea breezes and often appear as lines where two air masses meet.

Lenticular clouds

Lenticular clouds are shaped like lenses or almonds or...flying saucers! They may get their shape from hilly terrain or just the way the air is rising over flat terrain.

(Hope this helps) Sky

distance, luminosity, brightness, radius, chemical composition, and temperature