Which of the following best describes stratus clouds?

More specifically, the term stratus is used to describe flat, hazy, featureless clouds at low altitudes varying in color from dark gray to nearly white. The word stratus comes from the Latin prefix strato-, meaning “layer”.
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Stratus cloud
Precipitation cloud?Common Drizzle, freezing drizzle, Snow or snow grains

What are 2 characteristics of cumulus clouds?

What are cumulus clouds? Cumulus clouds are detached, individual, cauliflower-shaped clouds usually spotted in fair weather conditions. The tops of these clouds are mostly brilliant white tufts when lit by the Sun, although their base is usually relatively dark.

What does stratus cloud look like?

Stratus 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 clouds grow on hot days when warm, wet air rises very high into the sky.

What are the 3 types of stratus clouds?

Stratus clouds have three associated cloud varieties: opacus, translucidus, and undulatus.

Are stratus clouds high or low?

low-level
Stratus clouds are low-level layers with a fairly uniform grey or white colour. Often the scene of dull, overcast days in its ‘nebulosus’ form, they can persist for long periods of time. They are the lowest-lying cloud type and sometimes appear at the surface in the form of mist or fog.

What are 3 differences between cumulus and stratus clouds?

Cumulus clouds result from air rising due to positive buoyancy (i.e. metaphor: bubbles rising in a pot of water). Stratus clouds results from a forced lifting of air (low level convergence, upper level divergence). Cumulus clouds are associated with convection.

What is a stratus cloud Kid definition?

Stratus clouds are flat clouds that form in low altitudes. Fog is a form of stratus cloud that is close to the Earth’s surface. Stratus clouds form when warm air with moisture lifts up into the Earth’s atmosphere. Often, these types of clouds signal gray, drizzly days with not much sunshine.

What means stratus?

Definition of stratus

: a low cloud form extending over a large area at altitudes of usually 2000 to 7000 feet (600 to 2100 meters) — see cloud illustration.

How is stratus clouds formed?

Stratus clouds, in addition to being formed by radiative cooling of a moist clear layer, can be formed by lifting of moist air masses in regions adjacent to fronts or over orography, and by warm advection of a moist layer over a cold surface.

What are the characteristics of the clouds?

Clouds are typically sorted and identified by characteristics such as their height in the sky, texture, and the type of “weather” they do or do not produce. A good way to get better at identifying clouds is to practice. Make sure to always look up and frequently take pictures of those clouds.

What are the characteristics of cumulonimbus clouds?

More commonly known as thunderclouds, cumulonimbus is the only cloud type that can produce hail, thunder and lightning. The base of the cloud is often flat, with a very dark wall-like feature hanging underneath, and may only lie a few hundred feet above the Earth’s surface.

What is a fact about cumulus clouds?

Cumulus clouds are puffy clouds that sometimes look like pieces of floating cotton. The base of each cloud is often flat and may be only 1000 meters (3300 feet) above the ground. The top of the cloud has rounded towers.

What makes a cumulus cloud?

Cumulus clouds can be composed of ice crystals, water droplets, supercooled water droplets, or a mixture of them. The water droplets form when water vapor condenses on the nuclei, and they may then coalesce into larger and larger droplets.

What clouds cause rain?

Cumulonimbus clouds
Cumulonimbus clouds are also called thunderheads. Thunderheads produce rain, thunder, and lightning. Many cumulonimbus clouds occur along cold fronts, where cool air is forced under warm air. They usually shrink as evening approaches, and moisture in the air evaporates.

What are tornado clouds called?

A tornado is often made visible by a distinctive funnel-shaped cloud. Commonly called the condensation funnel, the funnel cloud is a tapered column of water droplets that extends downward from the base of the parent cloud.

What is a thunder cloud called?

NARRATOR: The typical thunderstorm cloud is the cumulonimbus, or thundercloud. Like many clouds, the cumulonimbus develops when warm air rises from the surface of the earth. As the warm air rises, it cools, and water vapor condenses into minute cloud droplets.

What clouds indicate snow?

These clouds appear frequently in the atmosphere, either ahead of or behind a frontal system. Thick, dense stratus or stratocumulus clouds producing steady rain or snow often are referred to as nimbostratus clouds.

Can it rain without clouds?

In reality, there is no real occurrence of rain without any clouds. Although it may be clear where you are experiencing a light rain or mist, the raindrops did originate from a cloud system. The wind can carry the rain several miles away from the cloud system.

Do clouds have names?

Well, clouds have names, too! Some cloud names are cirrus, cumulus, and stratus. Explain to your students the use of the words “names” and “groups” here. “Names” can be for individual things or for groups of things (e.g., a cirrus cloud may be one individual cloud or it may refer to that group of cloud types.

What is a cloud for kids?

A cloud is made up of millions of tiny water droplets or ice crystals floating together in the air. The air always contains water vapor—water in the form of gas—which is invisible. The amount of water vapor that air can hold depends on the air’s temperature. The cooler the air, the less water it can hold.

What are big fluffy clouds called?

Cumulo-form

Generally detached clouds, they look like white fluffy cotton balls. They show vertical motion or thermal uplift of air taking place in the atmosphere. They are usually dense in appearance with sharp outlines.