Summarize describe the main characteristics of cirrus, cumulus, and stratus clouds.

Cirrus clouds are most common form of high-level clouds are thin and often wispy cirrus clouds. Typically found at heights greater than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), cirrus clouds are composed of ice crystals that originate from the freezing of supercooled water droplets. Cirrus generally occur in fair weather and point in the direction of air movement at their elevation.

Cumulus clouds are puffy clouds that sometimes look like pieces of floating cotton. The base of each cloud is often flat and may be only 1000 meters (3300 feet) above the ground. The top of the cloud has rounded towers. When the top of the cumulus resembles the head of a cauliflower, it is called cumulus congestus or towering cumulus. These clouds grow upward, and they can develop into a giant cumulonimbus, which is a thunderstorm cloud

Stratus clouds are uniform gray clouds that usually cover the entire sky. They can form when very weak, upward vertical air currents lift a thin layer of air high enough to initiate condensation. Stratus clouds also form when a layer of air is cooled from below to its dewpoint temperature and water vapor condenses into liquid droplets. Stratus clouds look like a layer of fog that never reaches the ground. In fact, fog that "lifts" off the ground forms a layer of low stratus clouds. Precipitation rarely falls from true stratus clouds since the upward vertical motion needed for precipitation is very weak, but light mist and drizzle can sometimes accompany stratus clouds