Cloud Layer - a group of clouds, not necessarily of the same type, that has the cloud bases at the same altitude ...
cloud layer - An array of clouds, not necessarily all of the same type, with bases at approximately the same level. It may be either continuous or composed of detached elements.
Cloud Layer An array of clouds whose bases are at approximately the same level.
Cloud Seeding An experimental process used to weaken hurricanes or make rain in dry areas.
subcloud layer"The portion of the boundary layer extending from the surface to the average altitude of the base of clouds with updrafts originating in the boundary layer. It encompasses the mixed layer and the surface layer.
The lowest cloud layer that is reported as broken or overcast
Cell
Convection in the form of a single updraft, downdraft, or updraft/downdraft couplet, typically seen as a vertical dome or tower as in a cumulus or towering cumulus cloud.
The lowest cloud layer that is reported as broken or overcast. If the sky is totally obscured, then it is the height of the vertical visibility.
Related terms: measured ceiling and variable ceiling
CEILING LIGHT ...
Scattered- A cloud layer that covers between 3/8ths and 1/2 of the sky.
Stratus (Sc): A cloud layer with a uniform base and a gray color.
Sublimation: The process of ice changing phase into vapor.
SCATTERED The amount of sky cover for a cloud layer between 3/8ths and 4/8ths, based on the summation layer amount for that layer.
Cloud CeilingSame as Ceiling; the height of the cloud base for the lowest broken or overcast cloud layer. Cloud Condensation NucleiSmall particles in the air on which water vapor condenses and forms cloud droplets.
cloud base heightFor a given cloud or cloud layer, the lowest level of the atmosphere where cloud properties are detectable.cloud condensation nucleusA particle, either liquid or solid, upon which water condenses to form cloud droplets.
Surface winds were from the south at 20 MPH, indicating over 100 MPH of shear through the cloud layer! Such vertical shear often destroys all but the strongest storms by literally blowing the updraft away from its base.
Sky cover (/SK) is used to report the cloud layer amounts and the height of the cloud base. The tops of the cloud layers can also be included as can more than one layer of cloud. Heights are in hundreds of feet above sea level and are three digits.
Gray cloud layer, often dark, the appearance of which is rendered diffuse by more or less continuously falling rain or snow, which in most cases reaches the ground. It is thick enough throughout to blot out the Sun.
Stratus (St) A principal low-level cloud type (cloud genus) in the form of a low-altitude, light to dark gray cloud layer with a rather uniform base. Stratus clouds are generally diffuse and dull.
Stratus - A low, generally gray cloud layer with a fairly uniform base. Stratus may appear in the form of ragged patches, but otherwise does not exhibit individual cloud elements as do cumulus and stratocumulus clouds.
CLOUD BASE: For a given cloud or cloud layer, the lowest level in the atmosphere at which the air contains a perceptible quantity of cloud particles.
CLOUD HEIGHT: The height of the cloud base above the local terrain.
Ceiling - The height of the lowest layer of broken or overcast cloud layer.
Cirrus Clouds - Thin, wispy clouds that form high in the atmosphere as their water vapor freezes into ice crystals. Cirrus clouds are a principle cloud type.
stratus—A low, gray cloud layer or sheet with a fairly uniform base; sometimes appears in ragged patches; seldom produces precipitation but may produce drizzle or snow grains. A stratiform cloud.
stratus fractus—See fractus.
UNDERCAST
In aviation, it is an opaque cloud layer viewed from an observation point above the layer. From the ground, it would be considered an overcast.
Stratus A low, gray cloud layer with a rather uniform base whose precipitation is most commonly drizzle.
Streamline A line that shows the wind flow pattern.
FEW The amount of sky cover for a cloud layer between 1/8th and 2/8ths, based on the summation layer amount for that layer.
Ceiling - The height of the lowest layer of broken or overcast cloud layer.
Cold Front - The transition zone where a colder air mass overtakes and replaces a warmer air mass.
Cloud deck The top of a cloud layer, usually viewed from an aircraft.
NOAA National Weather Service - Cite This Source - This Definition
Browse Related Terms: Accessory Cloud, ACLD, Banner Cloud, CAVU, Cloud Layer, Cloud Movement, Cloud Streets, Comma Cloud, Lenticular Cloud, Mammatus Clouds, Nacreous Clouds, TOP ...
Corona - A bright, whitish disk centered on the Moon or Sun that results from diffraction when the objects are veiled by a thin cloud layer.
It is used to observe precipitation intensity and movement; determine storm structure; estimate hail potential; locate boundaries (cold front, outflow, lake breeze, etc.); identify cloud layers; and detect light snow, drizzle, birds, insects, ...
The effect may also be caused by turbulent mixing with dry air just above the cloud layer, caused by the aircraft motion, and this mechanism can lead to temporary clear lanes in other cloud forms, e.g. thin stratocumulus or altocumulus.
 See also: Layer, Cloud, Water, Surface, Clouds
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