Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
cirrocumulus
References
Images & Videos
Illustration showing ten cloud types at different altitudes above the ground: cirrus, cirrocumulus, and cirrostratus at high elevations; altocumulus and altostratus at mid-levels; nimbostratus, stratocumulus, stratus, cumulus, and the towering cumulonimbus clouds at lower to very high elevations, with a plane for scale.
Learn about the four main types of clouds formed at different altitudes
Britannica AI Icon

cirrocumulus

meteorology
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Illustration showing ten cloud types at different altitudes above the ground: cirrus, cirrocumulus, and cirrostratus at high elevations; altocumulus and altostratus at mid-levels; nimbostratus, stratocumulus, stratus, cumulus, and the towering cumulonimbus clouds at lower to very high elevations, with a plane for scale.
cloud types Different types of clouds form at different heights.

Cirrocumulus clouds are a high-altitude cloud formation characterized by small, white, rounded masses, often arranged in regular patterns. These clouds are composed of ice crystals and are typically seen in fair weather. They are one of the ten main cloud genera, classified by their altitude and appearance. Cirrocumulus clouds are part of the broader category of clouds, which are essential for the Earth's hydrologic cycle as they are the source of all precipitation.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
3 Britannica Sources
  1. cirrocumulus
  2. What Does a stratocumulus Cloud Look Like?
  3. climate - Cloud types

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.