L6 Clouds: Stratus (St)
Stratus in a more or less continuous later,
or
in ragged shreds,or
both but no stratus fractus of bad weather (no precipitation).
Additional Views:
Notes: Stratus most commonly occurs as a grey, fairly uniform, featureless, single layer of low cloud. Occasionally it can be dark or threatening, although at most it can only produce weak precipitation. This feature makes it fairly easy to distinguish it from nimbostratus, which nearly always produces rain, snow or ice pellets.
When occurring alone, stratus shreds (fractus) appear grey when viewed towards the sun and white when viewed away from the sun. Fog will often lift into a layer of stratus by an increase in wind or a rise in temperature. Stratus is sometimes comparatively thin and the disc of the sun or moon may be seen with a clear outline.
