So today’s photo is of the clouds in the sky as I was leaving work. Today had been a fairly cloudy and overcast day so I was happy when the sun had come out for a while during the day (especially since it’s suppose to rain for the next two days). I liked the way the clouds looked wispy in the sky. I know that there are several different types of clouds, but since I’m not a meteorologist I’m not going to try to name them (though if I were to hazard a guess—I’d say they were cirrus clouds).

So what are some little facts about clouds?

The basic definition of a cloud is that it is “an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of minute liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body.” The droplets & crystals may be composed of water, various other chemicals or a combination of them.

Clouds are also named based on their location in the sky, with there being nine different types of clouds:

Stratocumulus, stratus, and cumulus—all are usually below 6,000 feet

Altocumulus and altostratus—range from 6,000 to 20,000 feet

Cirrocumulus, cirrus, and cirrostratus—are above 18,000 feet

Cumulonimbus can range from near the ground (so below 6,000 feet) to above 50,000 feet.

Now that I’ve been reminded that there are different types of clouds, I think I’m going to see if I can get a picture of each type of cloud throughout the year.

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