Cirrocumulus castellanus is a type of cirrocumulus cloud

Cirrocumulus cloud

Cirrocumulus clouds are one of the three main types of high-altitude clouds, which also includes cirrus clouds and cirrostratus clouds. They usually occur at an altitude of to . Like other cumulus clouds, cirrocumulus clouds signify convection. Unlike other cirrus clouds, cirrocumulus include a...

. The name cirrocumulus catellanus is derived from Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, meaning "of a castle". These clouds appear as round turrets that are rising from either a lowere line or sheet of clouds. Cirrocumulus castellanus is an indicator of atmospheric instability

Atmospheric instability

Atmospheric instability is a condition where the atmosphere is generally considered to be unstable and as a result the weather is subject to a high degree of variability through distance and time...

 at the level of the cloud. The clouds form when condesnation occurs in the base cloud, causing latent heat

Latent heat

Latent heat is the heat released or absorbed by a chemical substance or a thermodynamic system during a process that occurs without a change in temperature. A typical example is a change of state of matter, meaning a phase transition such as the melting of ice or the boiling of water. The term was...

ing to occur. This causes air to rise from the base cloud, and if the air ascends into conditionally unstable air, cirrocumulus castellanus will form.

External links

International Cloud Atlas - Cirrocumulus castellanus