Cirrocumulus floccus is a type of

cirrocumulus cloud Cirrocumulus is one of the three main genus-types of high-altitude tropospheric clouds, the other two being cirrus and cirrostratus. They usually occur at an altitude of . Like lower-altitude cumuliform and stratocumuliform clouds, cirrocumulus ...

. The name ''cirrocumulus floccus'' 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 ...

, meaning "a lock of wool". Cirrocumulus floccus appears as small tufts of cloud with rounded heads, but ragged bottoms. The cloud can produce

virga In meteorology, a virga, also called a dry storm, is an observable streak or shaft of precipitation falling from a cloud that evaporates or sublimates before reaching the ground. A shaft of precipitation that does not evaporate before reac ...

, precipitation that evaporates before reaching the ground. Like

cirrocumulus castellanus Cirrocumulus castellanus or Cirrocumulus castellatus is a type of cirrocumulus cloud. ''Castellanus'' is from the Latin meaning "of a castle". These clouds appear as round turrets that are rising from either a lowered line or sheet of clouds. Cirro ...

, cirrocumulus floccus is an indicator of

atmospheric instability Atmospheric instability is a condition where the Earth's atmosphere is generally considered to be unstable and as a result the weather is subjected to a high degree of variability through distance and time. Atmospheric stability is a measure of ...

at the level of the cloud. In fact, cirrocumulus floccus can form from cirrocumulus castellanus, being the evolutionary state after the base of the original cloud has dissipated.

References

External links

International Cloud Atlas – Cirrocumulus floccus
Cirrus Cumulus {{Cloud-stub

See also

References

External links