(WKBW-TV) BUFFALO, NY — Every day our sky is filled with a variety of clouds. Each one tells a different story about the condition of the atmosphere.
But did you know there’s a classification system for them? And that you can make a simple weather forecast just by knowing what the cloud is that you’re looking at?
Clouds: we see them in our sky every day, and take them for granted, but did you know that each cloud tells a story about the condition of our atmosphere?
Clouds are classified based on their form and their altitude. The World Meteorological Organization has categorized clouds into ten basic types, which are further divided into species and varieties.
There are cumuliform clouds, the puffy ones, stratiform clouds, the kind that cover the entire sky in one layer, and cirriform clouds that are wispy and hair-like. The altitudes range from low levels, to mid-levels, to high-levels. There’s a separate category of clouds with vertical development that applies to cumulonimbus, or thunderstorm clouds and other cumulus clouds. Each category of cloud and cloud type can serve as a big indicator as to what the weather will be in a matter of hours, or even a matter of days! For example, the approach of high wispy clouds from the west often serves as a predictor for an approaching storm days in advance of its arrival.
So now you know a little bit more about the clouds we see in the sky each day, and how knowing what they are and their classifications can help you make a simple forecast.
Got a weather question that you’d like answered? E-mail me at weather@wkbw.com, and your question could be answered in the next edition of Josh’s Weather Academy.
