Dark Cloudy Sky

Understanding the two major varieties of rain cloud means knowing the basics of how meteorologists classify clouds. Besides being identified as precipitating nimbus or not, clouds are classified by their appearance – layered (“stratus”), heaped (“cumulus”) or a combination thereof – and by their altitude. Low-altitude clouds include stratus, cumulus and stratocumulus clouds. Mid-level clouds are designated with a prefix of “alto-” and include altocumulus and altostratus clouds. The highest altitude clouds, which appear wispy and feathery, are called cirrus clouds and include cirrocumulus, cirrostratus and cirrus clouds