Science Fact Finder | Weather and Climate - What Are The Four Major Cloud Categories, Based On Height In The Sky?

What are the four major cloud categories, based on height in the sky?

The first scientific method of classifying clouds was developed in 1803 by English naturalist (a scientist specializing in the study of plants and animals in their natural surroundings) and pharmacist Luke Howard (1772-1864). In an article titled "On the Modifications of Clouds," Howard designated Latin names to four cloud categories, based on appearance: cumuliform ("piled") for puffy, heaped-up clouds; cirriform ("hair-like") for thin, wispy, feathery swirls of clouds; stratiform ("layered") for continuous, flat sheets or layers of clouds; and nimbus ("cloud") for dark rain clouds. Meteorologists again took up the topic of cloud classification in 1874, at the first meeting of the International Meteorological Congress. There a classification system was devised that used Howard's cloud names as a starting point. The new system...

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