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WEATHER

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Cloud Image Gallery
Go to: Altocumulus
Altostratus
Cirrocumulus
Cirrostratus
Cirrus
Cumulonimbus
Cumulus
Nimbostratus
Stratocumulus
Stratus
Contrails
Kelvin-Helmholtz
Lenticular
Mammatus

Click on images for full size.

Altocumulus

Occasionally altocumulus
clouds show vertical development and produce tower-like extensions. These
altocumulus clouds are in the early stages of development.
(
Courtesy of UCAR Digital Image Library)

Sometimes altocumulus clouds appear as white or gray puffy masses in
ripples or waves.
( Courtesy of Peggy LeMone)

Photo of altocumulus clouds at sunset
(Courtesy of Roberta
Johnson)

Back
to top

Altostratus

This is an image of altostratus
clouds. Notice the difference in thickness and color in the
clouds.
( Courtesy of Keith G. Diem. Used by permission.)

This image of altostratus clouds was taken in Boulder,
Colorado.
( Courtesy of Carlye Calvin)

This photograph of altostratus clouds was taken in Calgary, Canada.
Notice the bright part of the cloud that is covering the
sun.
(Courtesy of Peggy LeMone)

Back
to top

Cirrocumulus

This is an image of cirrocumulus
clouds. Sometimes cirrocumulus clouds are made up of groups of small,
rounded puffs (like the clouds in this image), and sometimes they appear
in long, parallel bands.
( Courtesy of UCAR Digital Image
Library)

Cirrocumulus clouds sometimes appear in parallel bands like these
clouds. This is also called a "mackerel sky" because the clouds look like
the scales of a mackerel fish.
( Courtesy of UCAR Digital Image
Library)

This photograph includes cirrocumulus clouds in the center and top of
the image and cumulus clouds in the center and lower portion of the image.
Notice that the cirrocumulus cloud cells appear smaller than the cumulus
clouds.
(Courtesy of Bob Henson/UCAR)

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to top

Cirrostratus

This image of cirrostratus
clouds was taken near Moab, Utah.
( Courtesy of Anne Pharamond)

This is an image of cirrostratus clouds.
( Courtesy of NASA)

This is an image of cirrostratus clouds. You can see the sun through
these clouds, as well as a big halo or circle around the sun.
(
Courtesy of NOAA’s National Weather Service)

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to top

Cirrus

This is an image of cirrus
clouds.
( Courtesy of Lisa Gardiner)

This is an image of cirrus clouds. These clouds are thin, wispy, and
feathery.
( Courtesy of UCAR Digital Image Library)

Cirrus clouds may appear even over some of the world's driest areas,
such as the high Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
( Courtesy of
Caspar Ammann/UCAR)

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to top

Cumulonimbus

This cumulonimbus
cloud has the characteristic anvil-shaped top.
( Courtesy of UCAR
Digital Image Library)

This photograph of a cumulonimbus cloud was taken near Fort Lupton,
Colorado. You can see some towers growing in this cloud.
(Photo
courtesy of Gregory Thompson)

This cumulonimbus cloud is well-developed and shows the characteristic
anvil-shape.
(Courtesy of Roberta Johnson)

Back
to top

Cumulus

This is an image of cumulus
clouds.
( Courtesy of Carlye Calvin)

This image of cumulus clouds was taken in the mountains of Colorado.
You can tell this was taken in the mountains because some of the clouds
appear to be below the person taking the photograph!
(Courtesy of
Olga and Sergei Kuznetsov)

View of cumulus clouds from the Great Sand Dunes National Park and
Preserve near Alamosa, Colorado.
(Courtesy of Olga and Sergei
Kuznetsov)

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to top

Nimbostratus

This image of nimbostratus
clouds was taken in Seattle, WA. Notice the rain falling out of the cloud
as well as the rainbow!
( Courtesy of Peggy LeMone)

This is an image of nimbostratus clouds.
(Courtesy of English
Wikipedia)

Photograph of nimbostratus clouds, taken in Victoria, BC,
Canada
(Courtesy of the University of Victoria School-Based Weather
Station Network)

Back
to top

Stratocumulus

This photograph is of stratocumulus
clouds at sunset.
( Courtesy of Carlye Calvin/UCAR)

This is an image of stratocumulus clouds.
( Courtesy of Peggy
LeMone)

These stratocumulus clouds appear in linear clumps across the
sky.
(Courtesy of Olga and Sergei Kuznetsov)

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to top

Stratus

This image of stratus
clouds was taken in San Giamano, Tuscany, Italy. The stratus cloud appears
as fog on the ground.
( Courtesy of Sara Martin)

Stratus clouds at sunrise in eastern Colorado
(Photo courtesy of
Gregory Thompson)

This type of stratus cloud forms in mountainous areas.
(Courtesy
of Olga and Sergei Kuznetsov)

Back
to top

Contrails

This photograph shows many contrails
in the sky near Sutherland, NE (November 2004).
(Courtesy of Susan
Gallagher)

This is an image of a persistent spreading contrail taken in Boulder,
CO on April 12 2007.
(Courtesy of Peggy LeMone)

This is a photo of a persistent non-spreading contrail taken in
Boulder, CO.
(Courtesy of Kirsten Meymaris)

This enhanced infrared image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spedtroradiometer (MODIS), aboard NASA’s Terra satellite, shows widespread
contrails over the southeastern United States during the morning of
January 29, 2004. The crisscrossing white lines are contrails that form
from planes flying in different directions at different altitudes. Each
contrail spreads and moves with the wind. Contrails often form over large
areas during winter and spring.
(Courtesy of NASA's Earth
Observatory)

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to top

Kelvin-Helmholtz

Kelvin-Helmholtz
clouds resemble breaking waves in the ocean. They are usually the most
developed near mountains or large hills. Wind deflected up and over a
barrier, like a mountain, continues flowing through the air in a wavelike
pattern. Complex evaporation and condensation patterns create the capped
tops and cloudless troughs of the waves.
(Courtesy of Benjamin
Foster/UCAR)

This is a photograph of Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds, which resemble
breaking waves in the ocean. In this image, the wind is blowing from left
to right.
(Courtesy of Terry Robinson/UCAR)

This is a photograph of Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds, which resemble
breaking waves in the ocean. In this image, the wind is blowing from right
to left.
(Courtesy of Terry Robinson/UCAR)

Back
to top

Lenticular

Lenticular,
or lee wave, clouds form downwind of an obstacle in the path of a strong
air current. In the Boulder, Colorado, area, the obstacle is the Front
Range of the Rocky Mountains, seen through clouds at the bottom of the
picture.
(Courtesy of UCAR Digital Image Library)

Lenticular clouds form downwind of an obstacle in the path of a strong
air current. In the Boulder, Colorado, area, the obstacle is the Front
Range of the Rocky Mountains, seen at the bottom of the
picture.
(Courtesy of UCAR Digital Image Library)

Lenticular clouds, taken near Boulder, Colorado
(Courtesy of
Carlye Calvin/UCAR)

This close up of lenticular/lee wave clouds was taken at
sunset.
(Courtesy of Roberta Johnson)

Back
to top

Mammatus

This is a photo of mammatus
clouds, taken in Weld County, Colorado. The setting sun highlights the
shapes in the clouds.
(Photo courtsey of Gregory Thompson)

This is an image of mammatus clouds.
(Courtesy of Carlye
Calvin/UCAR)

This photograph of mammatus clouds was taken at sunset. Notice how the
light from the sun highlights the round features of these
clouds.
(Courtesy of Roberta Johnson)

Back
to top

Images
and Multimedia on Windows to the Universe

Clouds

Cloud
Types

Clouds
in Art

CMMAP -
Studying Clouds and Climate

Last modified November 19, 2007 by Becca
Hatheway.

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Earth Scientist, Volume XXVI, Issue 2, Summer 2010
Our 2010 Summer issue
of The Earth Scientist includes six articles dealing with various aspects of
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right conditions, actually occur on the narrow Mississippi River....more

Altocumulus
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

Altostratus
Altostratus
belong to the Middle Cloud group (2000-7000m up). An altostratus cloud usually
covers the whole sky and has a gray or blue-gray appearance. The sun or moon may
shine through an altostratus...more

Cirrocumulus
Cirrocumulus
clouds belong to the High Cloud group (5000-13000m). They are small rounded
puffs that usually appear in long rows. Cirrocumulus are usually white, but
sometimes appear gray. Cirrocumulus...more

Cirrostratus
Cirrostratus
clouds belong to the High Cloud (5000-13000m) group. They are sheetlike thin
clouds that usually cover the entire sky. The sun or moon can shine through
cirrostratus clouds . Sometimes, the...more

Cirrus
Cirrus
clouds are the most common of the High Cloud (5000-13000m) group. They are
composed entirely of ice and consist of long, thin, wispy streamers. They are
commonly known as "mare's tails" because...more

Cumulonimbus
Cumulonimbus
clouds belong to the Clouds with Vertical Growth group. They are generally known
as thunderstorm clouds. A cumulonimbus cloud can grow up to 10km high. At this
height, high winds will flatten...more

Cumulus
Cumulus
clouds belong to the Clouds with Vertical Growth group. They are puffy white or
light gray clouds that look like floating cotton balls. Cumulus clouds have
sharp outlines and a flat base. Cumulus...more

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