S'COOL Cloud Chart: Cirrus

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Cirrus
thumbnail of scattered cirrus clouds
Cirrus
thumbnail of cirrus clouds
Wispy cirrus
thumbnail of scattered cirrus clouds
Scattered cirrus
thumbnail of full sky of cirrus
Cirrus
thumbnail of cirrus with ice crystals present
Cirrus
thumbnail of cirrus clouds
Cirrus
thumbnail of cirrus over cumuls clouds
Cirrus over Cumulus
thumbnail of cirrus and cumulus
Cirrus over Cumulus
thumbnail of feathery cirrus with cumulus
Feathery Cirrus
with Cumulus
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Cirrus

 This photo shows transparent to translucent cirrus covering most of the sky. Photo by Kevin Larman.
cirrus clouds

Wispy Cirrus

 This photo shows transparent to translucent cirrus streaks, and illustrates why cirrus clouds are often described as mare's tails. The streaks come from falling ice particles that make up the clouds. Photo by Lin Chambers, August, 2002.
cirrus clouds

Scattered Cirrus

 This photo shows very scattered (cloud cover a few percent) transparent cirrus clouds, with evidence of more clouds in the distance at the horizon. This photo was taken over a lake in Sweden on Oct. 24, 1997, by Mats Furugard and his students.
scattered cirrus clouds

Cirrus

 This image was taken on April 17, 1999. It is a really intersting cirrus cloud type.
Image of sky full of Cirrus clouds

Cirrus

 Here is a beautiful photo of cirrus clouds. In Particular, to the left of the palm tree you can see the distinctive patterns of falling ice crystals, called fall streaks. Photo taked by Doug Stoddard in March 2002, in Puerto Rico.
Image of cirrus clouds with fall streaks

Cirrus

 This is a rarer manifestation of cirrus. Rather than fall streaks, which nicely show wind direction, this one suggests that the wind is fairly constant at the cloud altitude, and the cirrus ice particles are falling more or less straight down; resulting in spiral shaped streaks. Photo taken by Doug Stoddard in March 2002, in St. Thomas.
Image of cirrus clouds

Cirrus over Cumulus

 This is a great, and fairly typical shot of high thin cirrus over low cumulus clouds in the Tropics. Photo taken by Doug Stoddard in March 2002, in Puerto Rico.
Image of cirrus over cumulus

Cirrus over Cumulus

 This is a nice multi-layer tropical cloud situation, with low cumulus and high cirrus clouds both present. Photo take by Doug Stoddard in March 2002, in Puerto Rico.
Image of cirrus over cumulus

Feathery Cirrus with Cumulus

 This is a beautiful feathery cirrus cloud, with some small emerging or evaporating cumulus clouds below. Note the completely different texture of the two cloud types. Photo by Lin Chambers, Pleasant Lake, New Hampshire, July 2003.
Image of feathery cirrus with cumulus

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Last Updated Feb. 19, 2002
Lin H. Chambers. Responsible NASA organization/official: Leonard R. McMaster, Director, Atmospheric Sciences Competency