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zyzzyva98 wrote:It helps a lot to put pictures of the clouds and their description in your notes. That's what I do. It shouldn't take up much space (against that six-point font you should be using even small pictures will look big) and it shouldn't be hard to locate pictures.

it also helps if you know some of the roots like nimbus, cirrus, and stratus...

Good point. Once you know HOW to identify clouds, its easy to do. You don't need to remember the name for every cloud, theres a few tricks:
Prefix:
Strato, Nimbo- LOW
Alto- MIDDLE
Cirro- HIGH

Once you know the height/elevation, you know the beginning of your cloud name. Then you just need to know the root, or what it looks like:
Cumulus- Puffy, groups of small clouds
Stratus- Sheet, flat like

The only exceptions are:
cirrus (high, wispy clouds- remember that cirro means high, and cirro/cirrus sound a lot alike) and cumulus (low, puffy It has no prefix because it has vertical development) or Cumulonimbus (cumulus + rain, thunderstorms, bad weather)

You use the prefix Strato to mean low EXCEPT when the root is stratus, because you wouldn't say "stratostratus". So you change "strato" to "nimbo" and say "nimbostratus"
So find the prefix based on elevation, add the root based on appearance, and you have your cloud!

good cloud diagram:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2026/241 ... c4a216.jpg
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc14 ... dchart.jpg
http://pixdaus.com/pics/12443548452UZjkQJ.jpg

robodude wrote:Good point. Once you know HOW to identify clouds, its easy to do. You don't need to remember the name for every cloud, theres a few tricks:
Prefix:
Strato, Nimbo- LOW
Alto- MIDDLE
Cirro- HIGH

Once you know the height/elevation, you know the beginning of your cloud name. Then you just need to know the root, or what it looks like:
Cumulus- Puffy, groups of small clouds
Stratus- Sheet, flat like

The only exceptions are:
cirrus (high, wispy clouds- remember that cirro means high, and cirro/cirrus sound a lot alike) and cumulus (low, puffy It has no prefix because it has vertical development) or Cumulonimbus (cumulus + rain, thunderstorms, bad weather)

You use the prefix Strato to mean low EXCEPT when the root is stratus, because you wouldn't say "stratostratus". So you change "strato" to "nimbo" and say "nimbostratus"
So find the prefix based on elevation, add the root based on appearance, and you have your cloud!

Those aren't all the clouds though, there are some weird ones that aren't as common but still worth studying.

In my opinion, the hardest clouds to identify when given a picture are:
altostratus
altocumulus
cirrostratus
cirrocumulus

zyzzyva98 wrote:

robodude wrote:Good point. Once you know HOW to identify clouds, its easy to do. You don't need to remember the name for every cloud, theres a few tricks:
Prefix:
Strato, Nimbo- LOW
Alto- MIDDLE
Cirro- HIGH

Once you know the height/elevation, you know the beginning of your cloud name. Then you just need to know the root, or what it looks like:
Cumulus- Puffy, groups of small clouds
Stratus- Sheet, flat like

The only exceptions are:
cirrus (high, wispy clouds- remember that cirro means high, and cirro/cirrus sound a lot alike) and cumulus (low, puffy It has no prefix because it has vertical development) or Cumulonimbus (cumulus + rain, thunderstorms, bad weather)

You use the prefix Strato to mean low EXCEPT when the root is stratus, because you wouldn't say "stratostratus". So you change "strato" to "nimbo" and say "nimbostratus"
So find the prefix based on elevation, add the root based on appearance, and you have your cloud!

Those aren't all the clouds though, there are some weird ones that aren't as common but still worth studying.

Yes, but its a lot easier to memorize the rest when you have somewhere to start, like here. Now instead of memorizing 10+ clouds, you only need to memorize this list and maybe 5 others.

Its not memorizing them that is the tricky part, it is identifying them when given a picture.

And that's why you put pictures in your notes!

zyzzyva98 wrote:And that's why you put pictures in your notes!

that's true, though the pictures should be small to take up less space.

However, most pictures found on the Internet are really good pictures of clouds, where there's no way of mistaking what type it is. A good proctor would take thier own picture where the cloud shapes are less defined, so you shouldn't depend on pictures in your notes. Not that you shouldn't have pictures in your notes, but you also need to be able to identify clouds without the aid of pictures or guides to help you, just in case.