High clouds

Clouds of the troposphere

High clouds are mostly made of ice crystals. Cirrus forms delicate fibres, cirrocumulus makes small ripples, and cirrostratus spreads into a thin veil that can produce a halo around the Sun.

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Clouds and a rainbow above green mountains, winding rivers and a blue coastline — Googolstars

High clouds

High clouds

5–13 km

High clouds are mostly made of ice crystals. Cirrus forms delicate fibres, cirrocumulus makes small ripples, and cirrostratus spreads into a thin veil that can produce a halo around the Sun.

Cirrus

Thin ice-crystal fibres shaped by winds high in the troposphere.

Cirrocumulus

Small white cloudlets often arranged in fine ripples, mostly made of ice.

Cirrostratus

A translucent ice-cloud veil; its crystals can produce solar and lunar halos.

Cloud classification · WMO Troposphere