Cirrocumulus floccus is a type of

cirrocumulus cloud Cirrocumulus is one of the three main genus types of high-altitude tropospheric clouds, the other two being cirrus and cirrostratus. They usually occur at an altitude of , however they can occur as low as in the arctic and weather reporting sta ...

. The name ''cirrocumulus floccus'' is derived from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, meaning "a lock of wool". Cirrocumulus floccus appears as small tufts of cloud with rounded heads, but ragged bottoms. The cloud can produce

virga A virga, also called a dry storm, is an observable streak or shaft of precipitation that evaporates or sublimates before reaching the ground. A shaft of precipitation that does not evaporate before reaching the ground is known in meteoro ...

, precipitation that evaporates before reaching the ground. Like

cirrocumulus castellanus Cirrocumulus castellanus or Cirrocumulus castellatus is a type of cirrocumulus cloud. '' Castellanus'' is from the Latin meaning "of a castle". These clouds appear as round turrets that are rising from either a lowered line or sheet of clouds. Cir ...

, cirrocumulus floccus is an indicator of

atmospheric instability Atmospheric instability is a condition where the Earth's atmosphere is considered to be unstable and as a result local weather is highly variable through distance and time. Atmospheric instability encourages vertical motion, which is directly cor ...

at the level of the cloud. In fact, cirrocumulus floccus can form from cirrocumulus castellanus, being the evolutionary state after the base of the original cloud has dissipated.

References

External links

International Cloud Atlas – Cirrocumulus floccus
{{Cloud types Cirrus Cumulus

See also

References

External links