photo #5316123

Denise Waterbury (Member 56,618) saw Cirrus floccus clouds floating from the Eastern Sierra over Bishop, California, US like seeds blown from a giant dandelion. Though Cirrus is a high cloud, these are lower examples which likely started life as Altocumulus clouds whose supercooled droplets all froze. And so we’d classify these Cirrus floccus as altocumulogenitus, meaning that they were generated from Altocumulus. They have also inherited features from their former life as Altocumulus clouds: those trailing stems. These would have been known as virga when appearing beneath the Altocumulus, and can be thought of as precipitation that has dissipated away before reaching the ground. ‘Never a dull moment!’ says Denise of the Eastern Sierra sky.