FlashKeepers

Weather and Climate · K-12

Cloud Types and Formation

Major cloud types matched with their altitude and the weather they typically signal, one cloud type per card, deeper than the casual sky-watching trivia elsewhere in the catalog.

35 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.

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What cloud type is thin, wispy, and forms at high altitude, often signaling fair weather but sometimes an approaching front?
Cirrus clouds
What cloud type is a large, flat-bottomed, towering cloud associated with thunderstorms?
Cumulonimbus clouds
What cloud type is puffy, white, and cotton-like, typically associated with fair weather?
Cumulus clouds
What cloud type forms a flat, gray layer covering the sky, often bringing steady light rain or drizzle?
Stratus clouds
What cloud type combines a layered, gray appearance with rain, often producing steady, prolonged precipitation?
Nimbostratus clouds
What altitude range defines high clouds like cirrus, typically forming above 20,000 feet?
Above about 20,000 feet (6,000 meters)
What altitude range defines low clouds like stratus and cumulus, typically forming below 6,500 feet?
Below about 6,500 feet (2,000 meters)
What altitude range defines mid-level clouds like altostratus and altocumulus?
Roughly 6,500 to 20,000 feet (2,000 to 6,000 meters)
What cloud type appears as a wavy, rippled layer at mid altitude, sometimes called a 'mackerel sky'?
Altocumulus clouds
What cloud type appears as a smooth, gray sheet at mid altitude, often thickening ahead of a warm front?
Altostratus clouds
What cloud type appears as high, thin, rippled patches, often described as looking like fish scales?
Cirrocumulus clouds
What cloud type appears as a thin, sheet-like veil at high altitude, sometimes producing a halo around the sun or moon?
Cirrostratus clouds
What cloud type forms in small, low, lumpy patches, often seen at sunrise or sunset with pink or gray coloring?
Stratocumulus clouds
What towering cloud type develops from cumulus clouds and can grow into a cumulonimbus storm cloud given enough instability?
Towering cumulus clouds
What weather condition does a cirrus cloud's wispy shape typically indicate is developing within the next day or so?
A change in weather, often an approaching warm front

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