Cloud genus

A primary classification rank for clouds, defined by characteristic form and structure. The ten genera distinguish broad cloud types such as cirrus, cumulus, and stratus.

International Cloud Atlas: The World Meteorological Organization’s reference for cloud classification, observation, and naming. It establishes the formal definitions and identification rules for cloud genera.
Cumulus: A cloud genus with detached, heap-like clouds, often showing vertical development. Its rising air produces the familiar puffy form of one principal genus.
Cloud observation: The systematic visual or instrumental recording of cloud amount, form, and movement. Observers identify genera as a standard part of describing the sky.
Altostratus: A middle-level cloud genus forming a broad gray or bluish sheet, often obscuring the Sun. Its widespread middle-level layers contrast with the broken heaps of cumulus.
Cloud species: A classification rank describing a cloud’s shape or internal structure within a genus. Species refine a genus when its cloud form has a distinctive structure.
Stratus: A cloud genus of generally uniform layers that can cover much of the sky. Stable air and gentle lifting often produce this layered genus.
Synoptic meteorology: The study of large-scale weather patterns using observations collected across broad regions. Reports of cloud genera help describe weather systems at the surface.
Nimbostratus: A thick, widespread cloud genus associated with sustained precipitation. Its rain-bearing layers differ from genera defined by wispy or detached forms.
Cloud variety: A classification rank describing features such as cloud transparency or the arrangement of cloud elements. Varieties add traits that can occur within clouds of a given genus.
Cirrus: A cloud genus of high, thin clouds composed mainly of ice crystals. Its wispy structure reflects ice formation at high altitudes.

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