Cotton Balls In The Sky

     As a kid, I used to look up to the sky and distinguish what shapes I could make with the clouds. As I almost turn thirteen, I still do that when I'm in the car if I don't fall asleep. However, have you ever thought of the types of clouds? 

     First off, what are clouds? Clouds are groups of condensed water vapor in the atmosphere. There are four basic types of clouds: cirrus, cumulus, stratus, and lenticular.

     Cirrus clouds are the clouds at the top of the troposphere. The air is very cold at the top of the troposphere, that the clouds are actually made of really tiny ice crystals. This is why they have a feathery appearance.

     Cumulus clouds are basically cotton balls in the sky. They're fluffy and they look like mounds of cotton on top of each other. 

     Stratus clouds form very low in the sky. They basically look like layers in the sky. 

     Lenticular clouds are usually shaped like an oval and they usually form in the mountain region.

      If the prefix "alto" is added to either of the four group names, it means the cloud is found at a higher altitude than normal. If a prefix of "nimbo" or suffix of "nimbus" is added, the cloud is dark. Usually, dark clouds are specifically the ones that bring rain. Some clouds are also a mix of two groups. For example: cirrocumulus clouds have the feathery appearance of a cirrus cloud, but they form puffs like cumulus clouds. 

     Today, I decided to step out of my house, snap some shots of the clouds, and try to identify what category they fall under. 

These look like stratocumulus clouds. They seemed low in the sky and they formed quite small "puff" shapes.

These are cumulus clouds. 

For me, they look like a cross between cirrus and cumulus clouds. They have the feathery appearance, but they aren't like the typical cirrus clouds. They seem to have formed quite a "puff", too.

Another  pair of cumulus clouds! 

     Unfortunately, the sky was mostly filled with cumulus clouds. I wasn't able to spot some lenticular or stratus clouds in general. Hopefully, in the next few days, I could be able to spot some clouds that aren't the usual fluffy, puffy, cotton balls I see. I'm hoping that I can see different types of clouds in the sky and maybe even make some shapes with them!