Cirrocumulus clouds are high altitude clouds with a cottony appearance, formed by convection and consisting mostly of ice crystals. They are short-lived and often appear with altocumulus clouds, which are larger and darker and can signal developing thunderstorms or rain.
A cirrocumulus is a type of cloud characterized by its high altitude and cottony appearance. Clouds are generally classified by the height of their base, and cirrocumulus clouds are among the tallest with an elevation of 15 to 40 thousand feet (5 to 12 km). Cirrocumulus clouds take the form of sheets or patches made up of many tiny clouds arranged in rows, in what is sometimes described as a herringbone or mackerel pattern.
Like other cumulus clouds, cirrocumulus clouds form by convection. In this process, the rising warm air reaches an area of relatively cooler air, causing the moisture in the air to condense into clouds. The mounds are characterized in appearance by well-defined edges and a cottony appearance.
True cirrus clouds look like thin threads arranged in large sheets and consist only of ice crystals. Cirrocumulus clouds, on the other hand, contain mostly ice crystals along with a few droplets of liquid water, although they are in a supercooled state, meaning their temperature is below freezing, although they remain liquid. If all the supercooled water droplets freeze rapidly, a cirrostratus cloud will form, consisting entirely of ice crystals.
Technically, each tiny cloud in the formation is a cirrocumulus, but the term is commonly used to describe the aggregation of cloudlets into a large sheet. The largest cloud is typically white and fluffy in appearance, with no gray shadows. Clouds are generally short-lived and can produce a stream of ice or snow. A virga is a form of precipitation seen falling from a cloud, but which melts and evaporates before reaching the ground.
Cirrocumulus clouds often appear together with other types of cumulus clouds, especially altocumulus clouds. Cloudlets of Altocumulus, however, are larger and darker in appearance. They also appear at lower elevations, around 4,000 feet to 20,000 feet (1,200 to 6,100 meters), so they aren’t as cold as cirrocumulus clouds. Altocumulus clouds are white or gray and can signal developing thunderstorms or rain.
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