Is fog a low stratus cloud?
Stratus is used to describe flat, featureless clouds of low altitude, typically less than 300 metres. On the other hand, fog is a stratus cloud in contact with the ground. Horizontal visibility in fog is less than 1 km.
Can stratus clouds be fog?
Stratus clouds may produce a light drizzle or a small amount of snow. These clouds are essentially above-ground fog formed either through the lifting of morning fog or through cold air moving at low altitudes over a region. Some call these clouds “high fog” for their fog-like form.
What is the altitude of fog clouds?
Fog forms only at low altitudes. They can be as high as 12 miles above sea level or as low as the ground. Fog is a kind of cloud that touches the ground.
What is the altitude range of a stratus cloud?
Stratus. Usually forms between the surface and 2,000ft, but cloud base can be up to 4,000ft. Thick stratus can produce considerable precipitation, particularly in hilly or coastal regions, though in some cases this precipitation may be falling from higher clouds such as nimbostratus.
How do you identify a stratus cloud?
Stratus clouds are uniform grayish clouds that often cover the sky. Usually no precipitation falls from stratus clouds, but they may drizzle. When a thick fog “lifts,” the resulting clouds are low stratus.
How are stratus clouds?
How do stratus clouds form? Stratus clouds form in calm, stable conditions when gentle breezes raise cool, moist air over colder land or ocean surfaces. These clouds can exist in a variety of thicknesses and are sometimes opaque enough to darken days, allowing for little light to pass through.
What are the 3 types of stratus clouds?
Stratus clouds have three associated cloud varieties: opacus, translucidus, and undulatus.
What are the 5 types of fog?
A. Fog Types.
What are 10 main cloud types?
The foundation consists of 10 major cloud types. In addition to cirrus, stratus, cumulus, and nimbus clouds, there are cirrostratus, cirrocumulus, altostratus, altocumulus, stratocumulus, nimbostratus, and cumulonimbus clouds.
What altitude do low-level clouds form at?
6500 feet
Low clouds occur below 6500 feet, and normally consist of liquid water droplets or even supercooled droplets, except during cold winter storms when ice crystals (and snow) comprise much of the clouds.
What type of cloud is a stratus cloud?
What are stratus clouds? Stratus clouds are low-level layers with a fairly uniform grey or white colour. Often the scene of dull, overcast days in its ‘nebulosus’ form, they can persist for long periods of time. They are the lowest-lying cloud type and sometimes appear at the surface in the form of mist or fog.
Where do we find stratus clouds?
Found at very low levels (less than 2000 meters, or 6500 feet), stratus clouds are thick, large, heavy-looking gray clouds that dominate the sky.
Do stratus clouds produce high fog?
Stratus clouds may produce a light drizzle or a small amount of snow. These clouds are essentially above-ground fog formed either through the lifting of morning fog or through cold air moving at low altitudes over a region. Some call these clouds “high fog” for the fog-like cloud.
What is the precipitation potential of stratus clouds?
Stratus clouds form due to the combined effect of cooling in the lower layers of the atmosphere and turbulence caused by wind. These clouds form close to the Earth’s surface, when a sheet of warm, moist air lifts off the ground and depressurizes. When reaching the ground, they produce fog. Stratus clouds precipitation potential is very low.
What is a stratus fractus cloud?
The term stratus fractus is used to describe clouds that are ragged and constantly change shape. Stratus nebulosus is a gray, cohesive and fairly homogeneous layer of fog clouds. Stratus clouds have 3 associated cloud varieties:
What type of clouds are associated with fog?
Stratus cloud. Stratus clouds may produce a light drizzle or a small amount of snow. These clouds are essentially above-ground fog formed either through the lifting of morning fog or through cold air moving at low altitudes over a region. Some call these clouds “high fog” for the fog-like cloud.