Ways to use this list
- Cloud-spotting week: spin each morning, go outside at break and check whether that cloud is in the sky. Tick off each type you see until you have found all 10.
- Cotton wool clouds: spin and build the cloud on blue card. Stretch the wool thin for cirrus, pile it high for cumulonimbus and dab on grey paint for nimbostratus.
- Up-and-down height quiz: spin, and the class stretches up tall for a high cloud, stands normally for a middle one and crouches low for a low one.
- Forecast practice: spin a cloud and predict the weather it usually brings, then spin the random weather generator to see if your guess fits.
- Flight school revision: spin and say what the cloud means for flying. Cumulonimbus brings severe turbulence, icing and hail, so pilots steer well clear of it.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (10 entries)
- Cirrus – high: thin, wispy streaks of ice crystals, sometimes called mares' tails
- Cirrocumulus – high: rows of tiny white ripples, like fish scales
- Cirrostratus – high: a thin, milky veil that can make a halo around the Sun or Moon
- Altocumulus – middle: grey and white puffy patches, often lined up in rows
- Altostratus – middle: a grey sheet that makes the Sun look as if seen through frosted glass
- Nimbostratus – middle: a thick, dark grey layer that brings long spells of rain or snow
- Stratocumulus – low: lumpy grey and white patches, the most common cloud on Earth
- Stratus – low: a flat grey blanket that may bring drizzle; fog is stratus at ground level
- Cumulus – low: fluffy white heaps with flat bottoms, the classic fair-weather cloud
- Cumulonimbus – low base, very tall top: the storm cloud with thunder, lightning and sometimes hail
Questions people ask
What are the 10 main types of clouds?
The world's weather services, through the International Cloud Atlas, sort clouds into 10 main groups called genera, all listed here. The names come from Latin: cirrus means a curl of hair, cumulus a heap, stratus a spread-out layer and nimbus a rain cloud.
What do the different types of clouds tell you about the weather?
Small, separate cumulus clouds usually mean a fine day. If they tower higher through the afternoon, showers may follow. Cirrus that slowly thickens into a milky cirrostratus sheet often means rain is on the way within a day.
Is fog a kind of cloud?
Yes. Fog is a stratus cloud sitting on the ground, made of the same tiny water droplets. That is why walking through fog feels like walking through a cloud: you are.
Why is cumulonimbus counted as a low cloud when it is so tall?
Clouds are grouped by the height of their base, and a cumulonimbus starts low. Its top can climb above 10 kilometres, where it often spreads out into a flat anvil shape. It is the only cloud that makes thunder and lightning.