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Stratus cloud

 
Science Dictionary: stratus clouds
(stray-tuhs, strat-uhs)

Low clouds that stretch over large portions of sky, creating overcast conditions.

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WordNet: stratus cloud
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a large dark low cloud
  Synonym: stratus


Wikipedia: Stratus cloud
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Stratus cloud
Stratus opacus uniformis
Stratus opacus uniformis
Symbol CL 6.png
Genus Stratus (layered)
Altitude Below 2,000 m
(Below 6,000 ft)
Classification Family C (Low-level)
Appearance horizontal layers
Precipitation cloud? Yes, but usually minor precipitation

A stratus cloud (St) is a cloud belonging to a class characterized by horizontal layering with a uniform base, as opposed to convective clouds that are as tall or taller than wide (these are termed cumulus clouds). More specifically, the term stratus is used to describe flat, hazy, featureless clouds of low altitude varying in color from dark gray to nearly white. A "cloudy day" usually features a sky filled with stratus clouds obscuring the disk of the sun. These clouds are essentially above-ground fog formed either through the lifting of morning fog or when cold air moves at low altitudes over a region.

Variations

Stratus formations that are accompanied by precipitation are known as nimbostratus. Stratus formations at higher altitudes include altostratus and cirrostratus. Cirrostratus clouds are sheet-like and composed of ice crystals. Though they can be several thousand feet thick and cover the entire sky, they are relatively transparent and the sun and moon are sometimes visible through them. One characteristic is that the sun and moon have a halo around them because of light refraction on the ice crystals.

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Copyrights:

Science Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Stratus cloud" Read more