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Cirrus uncinus is a type of
cirrus cloud Cirrus ( cloud classification symbol: Ci) is a genus of high cloud made of ice crystals. Cirrus clouds typically appear delicate and wispy with white strands. Cirrus are usually formed when warm, dry air rises, causing water vapor deposition on ...
. The name ''cirrus uncinus'' is derived from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, meaning "curly hooks". Also known as ''mares' tails'', these
cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...
s are generally sparse in the
sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...
and very thin. The clouds occur at high
altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
s, at a temperature of about . They are generally seen when a warm or
occluded front In meteorology, an occluded front is a type of weather front formed during cyclogenesis. The classical and usual view of an occluded front is that it initiates when a cold front overtakes a warm front near a cyclone, such that the warm air is separ ...
is approaching. They are very high in the
troposphere The troposphere is the first and lowest layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, and contains 75% of the total mass of the planetary atmosphere, 99% of the total mass of water vapour and aerosols, and is where most weather phenomena occur. From ...
and generally mean that
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
, usually
rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...
, is approaching. File:Cirrus clouds 011.jpg, Cirrus uncinus clouds in Salinas Victoria, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.


See also

*
List of cloud types The list of cloud types groups all genera as ''high'' (cirro-, cirrus), ''middle'' (alto-), ''multi-level'' (nimbo-, cumulo-, cumulus), and ''low'' (strato-, stratus). These groupings are determined by the altitude level or levels in the troposphe ...


References


External links


International Cloud Atlas – Cirrus uncinus
Cirrus {{Cloud-stub