SEVERAL of the varieties of cirrus already discussed may gather so
abundantly at some given level in the atmosphere, that the most obvious
feature comes to be this arrangement in a sheet. The cloud then
becomes cirro-stratus, and should be so named. We have described how
cirro-nebula frequently grows in density until it fails to produce halo
phenomena, and may even reduce the sun to a hazy patch of light showing
no outline. This is the most typical of all forms of cirro-stratus.
It has always a distinctly fibrous or streaky appearance, whereby it
is at once distinguished from a similar but lower cloud which will be
described later on.
A similar sheet may be formed from the fusion together of the streaks
of cirrus-nebulosus, the bands of cirrus vittatus, or the development
of cirrus inconstans. But the general rule is that the cirro-stratus
retains more or less of the specific characters of the parent form.
Plate 14 shows a hazy form of cirro-stratus developed from the nebulous
cirrus. Its altitude was great, being about 10,000 metres. The
processes of growth and change could be studied easily. First would
appear some faint spots and streaks; these quickly fused together
into larger patches, which again joined to their neighbours. In a few
minutes the cloud so formed would return to the mottled or streaky
appearance, and either disappear entirely or become very thin, only
to recommence the process. This went on for more than an hour, the
cloudy patches getting larger and larger, until the critical condition
was passed, and the sky was covered with a general veil of typical
cirro-stratus.
[Illustration: Plate 14.
HAZY CIRRO-STRATUS.
(_Cirro-stratus Nebulosus._)]
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