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the Englishman Luke Howard (1772–1864) developed a cloud classification system that is generally accepted and still in use today.

In Howard’s system, he distinguished clouds according to their general appearance (“heap clouds” versus “layer clouds”) and their height above ground. Latin names and prefixes are used to describe these characteristics. The shape names are cirrus (curly or fibrous), stratus (layered), and cumulus (lumpy or piled). The prefixes denoting height are cirro (high clouds with bases above 20,000 feet [6,000 meters]) and alto (mid-level clouds from 6,000 to 20,000 feet [1,800 to 6,000 meters]). There is no prefix for low clouds. Nimbo and nimbus are added as a name or prefixes to indicate that the cloud produces precipitation.

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What are cumulonimbus clouds? Cumulonimbus clouds are menacing-looking multi-level clouds, extending high into the sky in towers or plumes. More commonly known as thunderclouds, cumulonimbus is the only cloud type that can produce hail, thunder, and lightning.

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What are nimbostratus clouds? Nimbostratus clouds are dark, grey, featureless layers of cloud, thick enough to block out the Sun. Producing persistent rain, these clouds are often associated with frontal systems provided by mid-latitude cyclones. These are probably the least picturesque of all the main cloud types.

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The French naturalist Jean Lamarck (1744–1829) was the first to propose a system for classifying clouds in 1802. His work, however, did not receive wide recognition.

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Stratocumulus clouds are hybrids of layered stratus and cellular cumulus, individual cloud elements, characteristic of cumulo type clouds, clumped together in a continuous distribution, characteristic of strato type clouds. Stratocumulus also can be thought of as a layer of cloud clumps with thick and thin areas.

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What are altocumulus clouds? Altocumulus clouds are small mid-level layers or patches of clouds, called cloudlets, which most commonly exist in the shape of rounded clumps. There are many varieties of altocumulus, however, meaning they can appear in a range of shapes.

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Altostratus are large mid-level sheets of thin cloud. Usually composed of a mixture of water droplets and ice crystals, they are thin enough in parts to allow you to see the Sun weakly through the cloud. They are often spread over a very large area and are typically featureless.

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Cirrostratus are transparent high clouds, which cover large areas of the sky. They sometimes produce white or coloured rings, spots or arcs of light around the Sun or Moon, that are known as halo phenomena. Sometimes they are so thin that the halo is the only indication that a cirrostratus cloud is in the sky.

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Cirrocumulus clouds are made up of lots of small white clouds called cloudlets, which are usually grouped together at high levels. Composed almost entirely from ice crystals, the little cloudlets are regularly spaced, often arranged as ripples in the sky.

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Nimbus are dark, low-level clouds accompanied by light to moderately falling precipitation. Low clouds are primarily composed of water droplets since their bases generally lie below 6,500 feet (2,000 meters). However, when temperatures are cold enough, these clouds may also contain ice particles and snow.

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Cumulus clouds are detached, individual, cauliflower-shaped clouds usually spotted in fair weather conditions. The tops of these clouds are mostly brilliant white tufts when lit by the Sun, although their base is usually relatively dark.

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these are called cirrus clouds they are short, detached, hair-like clouds found at high altitudes. These delicate clouds are wispy, with a silky sheen, or look like tufts of hair. In the daytime, they are whiter than any other cloud in the sky. While the Sun is setting or rising, they may take on the colors of the sunset.

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Stratus clouds are uniform and flat, producing a gray layer of cloud cover which may be precipitation-free or may cause periods of light precipitation or drizzle.