altocumulus clouds
Clouds are white because their water droplets or ice crystals are large enough to scatter the light of the seven wavelengths (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet), which combine to produce white light. Altocumulus clouds are part of the Middle Cloud group (2000-7000m up). They are grayish-white with one part of the cloud darker than the other. Altocumulus clouds usually form in groups and are about...more. Origin: 1  By rise of an expanded air layer at the border of a rising zone. 2  By convection or turbulence within an unstable layer of the middle cloud level. 3  By transformation from Altostratus und Nimbostratus at lability or Cumulus and Cumulonimbus at stability. Altocumulus clouds are part of the Middle Cloud group (2000-7000m up). They are grayish-white with one part of the cloud darker than the other. Altocumulus clouds usually form in groups and are about 1 km thick. Altocumulus clouds are about as wide as your thumb when you hold up your hand at arm's length to look at the cloud. Thin, white patch, sheet, or layered of clouds without shading. They are composed of very small elements in the form of more or less regularly arranged grains or ripples. In general Cirrocumulus represents a degraded state of cirrus and cirrostratus both of which may change into it and is an uncommon cloud. Detached clouds in the form of white, delicate filaments, mostly white patches or narrow bands. They may have a fibrous (hair-like) and/or silky sheen appearance. Cirrus clouds are always composed of ice crystals, and their transparent character depends upon the degree of separation of the crystals. A detailed, mid-level cumuliform cloud deck, consisting of supercooled and frozen cloud particles. Altocumulus is usually thin (less than 100m thick) and may be oriented along any windshear-direction at that altitude. Altocumulus undulatus is an indication of this. 50 photos in gallery. White and/or gray patch, sheet or layered clouds, generally composed of laminae (plates), rounded masses or rolls. They may be partly fibrous or diffuse. When the edge or a thin semitransparent patch of altocumulus passes in front of the sun or moon a corona appears. a cloud of a class characterized by globular masses or rolls in layers or patches, the individual elements being larger and darker than those of cirrocumulus and smaller than those of stratocumulus: of medium altitude, about 8000–20,000 feet (2450–6100 meters). Origin of altocumulus. 1890-1895. The clouds usually cover the entire sky. In the thinner areas of the clouds, the sun may be dimly visible as a round disk. Altostratus clouds often form ahead of storms with continuous rain or snow. Altocumulus clouds are mid level clouds that are made of water droplets and appear as gray puffy masses.
They are part of the Middle Cloud group (2000-7000m up).