Cloud Classification

How do snowflakes form from water vapour in the atmosphere? Explore the physics of hexagonal symmetry and the nucleation process in cold clouds.

How do cirrus clouds form in the upper troposphere? Learn how the deposition process and atmospheric water vapour create high-altitude ice crystals.

Learn how cloud types and weather forecasting identify atmospheric stability and rain risks.

Learn about the rare stratocumulus volutus cloud. This tube-shaped horizontal roll cloud forms in stable air under specific wind shear conditions.

Identify stratocumulus floccus in AU skies. Learn to spot this tufted species and understand its link to atmospheric instability and virga.

Identify stratocumulus castellanus in Australian skies. Learn how these turreted clouds signal atmospheric instability and convection.

Learn to identify stratocumulus stratiformis, a low-level cloud that forms broad sheets of rounded elements. Read our guide on how these clouds form.

Learn to identify the 5 types of stratocumulus clouds with our field guide to AU cloud forms. Use shape and texture clues to spot these low-level clouds.

Visit these top Australian cloudspotting hotspots to see Morning Glory and lenticular clouds.

Review these 9 facts about Australian cloud formations to understand how Morning Glory and Hector clouds form.

Learn how the Bureau of Meteorology classifies atmospheric cloud layers by altitude and form across Australia to help identify incoming weather.

Identify the main cloud types in Australia using height and shape. See how high, middle and low layer clouds affect local weather patterns today.