Six types of clouds that will help you predict weather

Though weather predictions these days are not a hassle, thanks to our technology, yet there are certain ways that will help you predict the weather yourself without any need for technology.

Hannah Christensen from The Conversation defined six types of clouds that will easily help us predict the weather just by looking at them.

1. Cumulus

Cumulus are the little fluffy clouds that are formed when the sun’s radiation heaths the land, which then heats the air just above it. The hot air rises by convection process and from like cotton wool like clouds. These clouds have flat bases, lying at the same levels. These fair weather clouds do not usually rain and predict just a fine weather.

2. Cumulonimbus

When the Cumulus clouds start getting larger and extend high into the atmosphere, they transform into Cumulonimbus and heavy rain is predicted. Mostly common in summer, the morning Cumulus expands to being deep Cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds by afternoon. Having an anvil-like shape, these clouds are translucent at the edges and often have flat tops.

3. Cirrus

Formed very high in the atmosphere, Cirrus clouds are translucent are carried horizontally by winds, obtaining a hooked shape. When you see Cirrus clouds, expect a warm front and maybe slight rain, that too when they are at really high altitudes. When the clouds start covering more sky and gets lower and thick, warm front is expected. The warm front indicates gentle rain followed by warmer weather.

4. Stratus

The Stratus clouds are gloomy. It is when the sky is covered by a continuous sheet of thin cloud. Though the clouds are dim, a rain is doubtful, at most, light drizzle could be expected. Since these clouds are just like fog, walking on mountain in a foggy day is actually walking in these Stratus clouds.

5. Lenticular

Often mistaken as UFOs, these lens-shaped clouds are formed over mountains and are created as the air is blown upwards. When the cloud moves past the mountain, the air goes back to its previous level and the cloud warms and evaporates. However, it can often overshoot, leading to formation of another Lenticular cloud, which in turn leads to forming strings of Lenticular clouds. As informed by Weather5280, these clouds indicate a strong flow of wind in the air and then bringing a huge temperature boost.

6. Kelvin-Helmholtz

These types of clouds are just like breaking ocean waves. Kelvin-Helmholtz are extremely rare and are formed when air masses at various heights move horizontally with various speeds, leading to an unstable situation. These evenly spaced clouds indicate instability in atmosphere, which though might not affect us on ground but can be cause of concern for aircrafts as it is an area of turbulence, informs EarthSky.