Cirrus Clouds

weather · ice crystals · high altitude · sky

Made of ice. Cirrus clouds are not like regular fluffy clouds. They are made entirely of tiny ice crystals, not water droplets, because they form so high up where the air is incredibly cold.

Super high up. These clouds live between 6,000 and 20,000 meters above Earth. That's so high that airplanes fly right through them, and the temperature is way below freezing.

Warm air rises up. Cirrus clouds form when warm, dry air gets pushed upward. As it rises and gets colder, water vapor turns directly into ice crystals on tiny dust and metal particles floating in the sky.

Found everywhere. You can see cirrus clouds all over the world. They form higher in tropical regions near the equator and lower in colder polar regions.

Delicate and wispy. Cirrus clouds look like thin, feathery brushstrokes painted across the sky. Their delicate appearance comes from how the ice crystals scatter light in the thin, cold air way up high.