Cirrostratus cloud

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**Cirrostratus cloud**
Cirrostratus showing an extremely large halo. This photo was taken from ground level with no zoom.
Altitude	Above 6000 meters (20,000 feet)
Appearance	white veil
Precipitation Cloud?	No
Abbreviation	Cs

Cirrostratus clouds belong to a class characterized by a composition of ice crystals and often by the production of halo phenomena. They appear as whitish and usually somewhat fibrous veils, often covering the whole sky and sometimes so thin as to be hardly discernible. These clouds are of high altitude (20,000–40,000 ft or 6,000–12,000 m). Compare cirrostratus with other stratus cloud formations at lower altitude: altostratus, nimbostratus, and low altitude stratus clouds. Cirrostratus clouds are signs that precipitation will follow in the next 12 hours.

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National Science Digital Library – Cirrostratus

v • d • e Clouds
High Clouds (Family A):	Cirrus (Ci) • Cirrus uncinus • Cirrus Kelvin-Helmholtz colombia • Cirrostratus (Cs) • Cirrocumulus (Cc) • Pileus • Contrail
Middle Clouds (Family B):	Altostratus (As) • Altostratus undulatus • Altocumulus (Ac) • Altocumulus undulatus • Altocumulus mackerel sky • Altocumulus castellanus cloud • Altocumulus lenticularis
Low Clouds (Family C):	Stratus (St) • Nimbostratus (Ns) • Cumulus humilis (Cu) • Cumulus mediocris (Cu) • Stratocumulus (Sc)
Vertical Clouds (Family D):	Cumulonimbus (Cb) • Cumulonimbus incus • Cumulonimbus calvus • Cumulonimbus with mammatus • Cumulus congestus • Pyrocumulus • Pyrocumulonimbus