Cirrocumulus castellanus

Cirrocumulus castellanus or Cirrocumulus castellatus^[1] is a type of cirrocumulus cloud. Castellanus is from the Latin meaning "of a castle".^[2] These clouds appear as round turrets that are rising from either a lowered line or sheet of clouds.^[3] Cirrocumulus castellanus is an indicator of atmospheric instability at the level of the cloud.^[4] The clouds form when condensation occurs in the base cloud, causing latent heating to occur. This causes air to rise from the base cloud, and if the air ascends into conditionally unstable air, cirrocumulus castellanus will form.^[5]

Cirrocumulus castellanus
Cirrocumulus castellanus undulatus (on the center)
Abbreviation	Cc cas
Symbol
Genus	Cirro- (curl) -cumulus (heaped)
Species	Castellanus (castle)
Altitude	Above 6,000 m (Above 20,000 ft)
Classification	Family A (High-level)
Appearance	small, rounded turrets
Precipitation	Virga only

See also

• List of cloud types