Amazing Clouds - Not

Photoshopped
Nacreous Clouds
 Nacreous Clouds

These rare clouds, sometimes called mother-of-pearl

clouds, are 15 - 25km (9 -16 miles) high in the stratosphere
and well above tropospheric clouds.They have iridescent
colours but are higher and much rarer than ordinary
iridescent clouds. They are seen mostly but not exclusively
in polar regions and in winter at high latitudes, Scandinavia,
Alaska, Northern Canada. Lower level iridescent clouds
can be seen anywhere shine brightly in high altitude
sunlight up to two hours after ground level sunset or before
dawn. Their unbelievably bright iridescent colours and slow
movement relative to any lower clouds make them an
unmistakable and unforgettable sight
Altocumulus Castelanus
 Altocumulus Castelanus

Also known as jellyfish clouds due to their

jellyfish-like appearance.These formed
around 17,000 ft due to when the rush of
moist air comes from the Gulf Stream and
gets trapped between layers of dry air. The
top of the cloud rises into a jellyfish shape
and long tentacles known as “trailing virga”
form from rain drops that have evaporated.
Noctilucent Clouds
 Noctilucent Clouds

Noctilucent Clouds or Polar Mesopheric

Clouds: This is an extroadinarily rare cloud
formation that occurs out on the verge of
space between 82km to 102 km from the
earth’s surface.Noctilucent clouds appear to
be luminous yet they reflect the sunlight
from the other side of the earth at night,
giving them a glowing appearance
Mammatus Clouds
 Mammatus Clouds

Mammatus are pouch-like cloud

structures and a rare example of clouds
in sinking air.Sometimes very ominous
in appearance, mammatus clouds are
harmless and do not mean that a
tornado is about to form - a commonly
held misconception. In fact, mammatus
are usually seen after the worst of a
thunderstorm has passed.
Mushroom Clouds
 A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke,
condensed water vapor, or debris resulting from a very large explosion.
They are most commonly associated with nuclear explosions, but any
sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect.Volcano
eruptions and impact events can produce natural mushroom
clouds.Mushroom clouds form as a result of the sudden formation of a
large mass of hot low-density gases near the ground creating a
Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The mass of gas rises rapidly, resulting in
turbulent vortices curling downward around its edges and drawing up a
column of additional smoke and debris in the centre to form its “stem”.
The mass of gas eventually reaches an altitude where it is no longer
less dense than the surrounding air and disperses, the debris drawn
upward from the ground scattering and drifting back down.
Cirrus Kelvin-Helmholtz
 Cirrus Kelvin-Helmholtz

Appearing as a slender, horizontal

spiral of cloud, cirrus Kelvin-Helmholtz
is one of the most distinctive cloud
formations. However, it tends to
dissipate only a minute or two after
forming and, as a result, is rarely
observed.Average height is around
16,500 ft.
Lenticular Clouds
 Lenticular clouds, technically known as
altocumulus standing lenticularis, are stationary
lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes,
normally aligned at right-angles to the wind
direction.Where stable moist air flows over a
mountain or a range of mountains, a series of
large-scale standing waves may form on the
downwind side. Lenticular clouds sometimes form
at the crests of these waves. Under certain
conditions, long strings of lenticular clouds can
form, creating a formation known as a wave cloud.
Roll Clouds
A roll cloud is a low, horizontal tube-shaped arcus
cloud associated with a thunderstorm gust front, or
sometimes a cold front. Roll clouds can also be a
sign of possible microburst activity.Cool air sinking
air from a storm cloud’s downdraft spreads out
across the surface with the leading edge called a
gust front. This outflow undercuts warm air being
drawn into the storm’s updraft. As the cool air lifts
the warm moist air water condenses creating
cloud, which often rolls with the different winds
above and below (wind shear).
Shelf Clouds
 A shelf cloud is a low, horizontal wedge-
shaped arcus cloud, associated with a
thunderstorm gust front (or occasionally with
a cold front, even in the absence of
thunderstorms).Unlike a roll cloud, a shelf
cloud is attached to the base of the parent
cloud above it (usually a
thunderstorm).Rising cloud motion often can
be seen in the leading (outer) part of the
shelf cloud, while the underside often
appears turbulent, boiling, and wind-torn.
Stratocumulus Clouds
 According to the Sapporo Meteorological
Observatory, these low-altitude
stratocumulus clouds were rolled into long,
distinctive ribbons after becoming trapped in
air currents.While it is not uncommon for
wind to form such patterns in stratocumulus
clouds, photos that clearly show the clouds
rolled into strips are rare, says the
observatory