Weathered Questions 4.9
Apr 28, 2026 · 27 min · 14 segments
In this week's episode: cirrocumulus and altocumulus clouds, the perfect date, lightning fatalities, dangerous sports, estimated precipitation timing. Submit your Weathered Questions to…
Apr 28, 2026 · 27 min · 14 segments
In this week's episode: cirrocumulus and altocumulus clouds, the perfect date, lightning fatalities, dangerous sports, estimated precipitation timing. Submit your Weathered Questions to…
And for folks listening, you'll notice that there's a common word between the two.
So they are the little puffy cotton ball-like clouds that just kind of float happily through the air on a nice summer day.
As I describe them to kids, they're the ones that you're looking for shapes in the clouds in.
We're talking, though, cirrocumulus and altocumulus, and what those modifiers mean is, uh, it relates to the layer of the clouds.
An altocumulus cloud, usually alto, uh, just like if you thought, if you think about choir or something like that, alto refers to that middle level, that middle range.
And really what the difference here is they, they form, uh, all very similarly with our, our, you know, rising, uh, moist and warm air.
But, uh, it's the layer that those clouds are forming in, um, the amount of moisture available to them, and, and the, the dryness and the turbulence and everything else that's going on at the different layers as you get higher up into the atmosphere is why these clouds might look just slightly different.
So again, our cumulus clouds, average cumulus cloud, that's gonna be a, a big puffy cotton ball.
And then the highest up, those cirrocumulus clouds are going to be much, much smaller.
And for folks listening, you'll notice that there's a common word between the two.
So they are the little puffy cotton ball-like clouds that just kind of float happily through the air on a nice summer day.
As I describe them to kids, they're the ones that you're looking for shapes in the clouds in.
We're talking, though, cirrocumulus and altocumulus, and what those modifiers mean is, uh, it relates to the layer of the clouds.
An altocumulus cloud, usually alto, uh, just like if you thought, if you think about choir or something like that, alto refers to that middle level, that middle range.
And really what the difference here is they, they form, uh, all very similarly with our, our, you know, rising, uh, moist and warm air.
But, uh, it's the layer that those clouds are forming in, um, the amount of moisture available to them, and, and the, the dryness and the turbulence and everything else that's going on at the different layers as you get higher up into the atmosphere is why these clouds might look just slightly different.
So again, our cumulus clouds, average cumulus cloud, that's gonna be a, a big puffy cotton ball.
And then the highest up, those cirrocumulus clouds are going to be much, much smaller.
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