ABC of Weather: Nimbus

Picture courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net by Jennifer Renee

Nimbus is one of the 5 main cloud categories and simply means rain bearing (from the Latin). The others are: Alto – high, Cirrus – thin and wispy (see my previous post on Clouds for an example), Cumulus – puffy and Stratus – layer (Latin for spread out).

The latter four categories are cloud names in their own right. Nimbus is always combined with another to give a cloud name. All the categories may be combined with others to give us a wide variety of names, which if you know the above code it tells you exactly what the cloud is like: thus Altocumulus means a high, puffy cloud. The most dramatic is Cumulonimbus which is the very tall, puffy rain bearing cloud often with an anvil shape at the top. It's this type of cloud which gives us the stormiest of weather.

There are many sub-categories of cloud and the list is still being added to. For example there's Mammatus, which is a special bubble shaped form of Cumulonimbus. I saw an example of these last year on my way to Malvern Spring Show. Have a look here for a full list of clouds with links to their definitions.

For more in the way of N, do visit the ABC Wednesday blog.

Comments

  1. Victoria Summerley21 April 2010 at 09:10

    I love looking at clouds but always have difficulty remembering which is which. That is the clearest explanation I have ever read! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lynvingen21 April 2010 at 11:56

    Nice information - I remember that I learned something like that in school many years ago - but I had totally forgotten about it :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown21 April 2010 at 23:44

    My little ones love the game where we see things in the clouds, would you believe yesterday we saw a dinosaur and a kitty kat...!!
    They loved you shot and understood your explanations too!!

    http://www.gardenersreach.com/post/N-is-for-Northern-Cardinal.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Roger Owen Green22 April 2010 at 03:27

    The Joni Mitchell song Both Sides now comes to mind; "I look at clouds from both sides now."

    ReplyDelete
  5. jay22 April 2010 at 23:27

    We get too many nimbus clouds around here, that's for sure! Pretty though, aren't they? Dramatic, too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. VP27 April 2010 at 08:45

    Hi everyone - glad you like the post. I'm enjoying reliving my geography lessons at school! :)

    ReplyDelete

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