I don’t know the types of clouds and at this point I’m too afraid to ask

I love skies: painting, photographing, and observing them. Clouds are a big part of what makes skies look so dramatic and cool. You would think I would be all over learning the types of clouds, yet every time I try to, it kind of goes in one ear and out the other.

The closest I came to learning some cloud vocabulary was in a cloudscapes class with Maria Coryell-Martin, where Maria taught a few different types of clouds. The ones I remember:

Cirrus clouds appear high in the atmosphere. They are wispy and feathery.

Cumulus clouds appear low in the atmosphere. They are big and fluffy and may be flat-bottomed.

This seems straightforward but it is incomplete. There are evidently large number of clouds types that occur medium in the atmosphere, which may be:

  • Stratus clouds, which include clouds in layers or lines (strata).
  • Altocirrus clouds are also uniformly hazy.
  • Altocumulus clouds are little puffballs, which may be arranged in lines or rows.
  • Nimbus clouds are stormclouds (rain bearing), and any of the cloud types may be nimbus (e.g. nimbostratus).
  • Special cloud types such as contrails (vapor trails from planes).

The variety of it is what makes clouds so fascinating to look at, but I am having trouble learning the vocabulary!

I decided to take a different approach and start identifying the cloud types in photos I’ve taken to assemble a visual library of clouds that have fascinated me. As always, you may use any of my photos for your painting reference!

Resources I am using for this exercise:

Wisps

Autumn sky with wispy cirrus clouds. September 26, 2023 in Cambridge, MA.

Puffballs

Ogunquit, Maine. March 26, 2023.

These looks pretty straightforwardly cumulus to me: low, fluffy, and big.

A mountain

Big cloud at dusk. June 24, 2022.

I guess I would also say cumulus since it’s low and big and fluffy. But there is a big of heavy, gray, stormy look: maybe nimbocumulus?

A low band

Coral and lavender evening sky. November 25, 2021.

Stratus clouds are described as flat, featureless bands close to the horizon, or as a generally uniform hazy white cover to the sky. This photo has both types, but I think they’re both stratus! I don’t have as many pictures of stratus clouds because I don’t typically seem to find them interesting, except in a sunset with other things going on.

Low band + high wisps

Glowing sunset under low cloud. Danehy Park, February 7, 2024.

Here’s another low band of cloud, suggesting stratus. Above this are white/gold wispy clouds, suggesting cirrus. A combo!

Small puffballs

Evening clouds in Danehy Park, Cambridge, MA. October 16, 2021.

These are small, puffy clouds around the middle of the sky, which makes me think altocumulus. There is also a grayness to them which could be due to the time of day (sunset) or possibly a certain nimbus-ish-ness. Or there could be mixed cloud types here.

Rows of small puffballs

Vancouver Harbour, August 2, 2024.

Another set of small, puffy clouds, neither very high nor very low in the sky. These appear to be arranged in rows. I’ll say altocumulus again. It also seems like there are some lighter, higher up, smaller clouds behind them on the left. Let’s take a look at the same sky a little later in the evening.

Tiny and tinier puffballs

Vancouver Harbor, August 2, 2024.

Here, there appears to be a middle layer of gray puffball clouds that I’d call altocumulus under a high layer of even tinier pink puffballs. I think these are cirrocumulus.

Little dots

Clouds over I-95. November 12, 2022.

Don’t you always seem to see interesting skies on a road trip? These are more of those “tiny dot” clouds, high little puffballs. Are these cirrocumulus, too? Is this what is called a “mackerel sky”?

Scales?

Winthrop Beach, January 13, 2022

Or is this a “mackerel sky”? I feel like I can see the “fish scales” more in this one.

Bands & curds

Danehy Park, March 16, 2023.

Rows of almost merged clouds. Stratocumulus? Or altocumulus?

Wavy channels

Wavy channels of clouds in Vancouver, BC. August 16, 2024.

The indentations or waves are in almost straight lines, like a plowed field. Strato- or alto-cumulus again?

Waves & undulations

Sunset undulating clouds in Danehy Park. July 31, 2020.

These clouds low and almost form a uniform layer over the sky, except they have some texture and fluffiness to them. I guess I’d call this stratocumulus, though altocumulus is also a possibility.

High Lines

Linear clouds in Danehy Park, Cambridge, MA. December 8, 2023.

These were so interesting to me. I feel like I rarely see clouds that look like lines like this. Maybe I’m just thrown off by the fact that they’re pink at sunset; they are quite high and wispy, so maybe this is just cirrus?

Textured disc

This is almost a flat plane of clouds with with little tiny channels in betwene them, almost embossments, they’re so thin. This makes me think of the “honeycomb” structure of cumulocirrus clouds. Maybe?

Conclusion

I found this very difficult! I still feel like there’s some important things I’m missing about how clouds work. If you know clouds, can you correct any of my guesses? If you don’t, do you find it interesting or useful to classify them, or do you think it’s better just to admire?

2 thoughts on “I don’t know the types of clouds and at this point I’m too afraid to ask”

  1. Wow, this is a wonderful repository of cloud images!

    Are you going to follow up with painting them? I’m guessing they all suggest different watercolour techniques – I think I have a new sketchbook theme…

    Reply

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