Clouds of Charming

Clouds form from condensation. As the sun heats the air, the mass/parcel rises into cooler temperatures. Since warmer air has the ability to hold more water vapor than that of cooler air, as it cools the moisture within the air condenses from a gaseous state to a liquid state.  When condensation occurs, we know the humidity of that air parcel equals 100%. (Source: Casey Allen Lecture Notes)

Image Source... Clouds play an important role in the study of geography and
 weather in that they  indicate what type of weather an area will soon experience
or is experiencing. 

High level clouds (above 7,000 meters high) generally build from millions of tiny ice particles. Since the temperatures at these altitudes are so low, when the moisture in the air parcel condenses, it freezes into ice. The prefix, “cirro-“ appears in the names of high level clouds. (Source: Online Text)

High Level Cirrostratus Clouds (Source: Online Text)

High Level Cirrus Clouds (Source: Online Text)
Wispy, curling tails successfully identify most
cirrus clouds. 

Mid-Level clouds (between 2,000 and 7,000 meters high) consist of liquid moisture particles. The prefix, “alto-“ appears in the names of mid-level clouds. (Source: Online Text)

Mid-level, Altostratus Clouds (Source: Online Text)

Mid-level, Altocumulus Clouds (Source: Online Text)
Mid-level clouds form from water rather than ice.

Low level clouds form between the Earth’s surface and 2,000 meters high. These clouds produce precipitation such as rain, snow, etc. Low level cloud names possess different prefixes and suffixes depending on whether or not they produce any type of weather. The “nimbo“ prefix or suffix denotes that the clouds are capable of precipitating. (Source: Online Text)

Low level, Cumulus Clouds (Source: Online Text)

Low level, Nimbostratus Clouds (Source: Online Text)

Image Source This image of Clay Morrow and Jax Teller shows how you rarely see just one specific type of cloud at one time. Below you will find descriptions of each present in this image. 

Contrail (Red Circle)- Formed by condensation when hot air from jet engines meets the cold air in the upper atmosphere and turns from a gas to a liquid.

Cirrostratus (Yellow Circle)- The high level transparent veil that covers a large part of the sky. These clouds thicken into altostratus clouds with the approach of a warm front.

 Altostratus (Blue Circle)- Thickened mid-level clouds which block the sun enough to inhibit the casting of shadows. Thicken to nimbostratus with approach of a warm front.

 Nimbostratus (Orange Circle)- Low level, grey colored clouds that often produce light precipitation.

 Cumulus (Green Circle)- Small, cotton ball-like clouds which usually indicate fair weather.

(Source for all of above descriptions: Online Text and Casey Allen Lecture Notes)