Home > Terms > English (EN) > nimbostratus (Ns)
nimbostratus (Ns)
A principal cloud type (cloud genus), gray colored and often dark, rendered diffuse by more or less continuously falling rain, snow, sleet, etc. , of the ordinary varieties and not accompanied by lightning, thunder, or hail. In most cases the precipitation reaches the ground, but not necessarily. Nimbostratus is composed of suspended water droplets, sometimes supercooled, and of falling raindrops and/or snow crystals or snowflakes. It occupies a layer of large horizontal and vertical extent. The great density and thickness (usually many thousands of feet) of this cloud prevent observation of the sun; this, plus the absence of small droplets in its lower portion, gives nimbostratus the appearance of dim and uniform lighting from within. It also follows that nimbostratus has no well-defined base, but rather a deep zone of visibility attenuation. Frequently a false base may appear at the level where snow melts into rain. Nimbostratus usually results from the thickening of altostratus to the point where the sun becomes totally indiscernible (Ns altostratomutatus); this point in time usually coincides with the beginning of relatively continuous precipitation. Rarely, it may evolve in like manner from stratocumulus or altocumulus (Ns stratocumulomutatus or Ns altocumulomutatus). Nimbostratus sometimes forms by the spreading of cumulonimbus or cumulus congestus when these clouds produce rainfall (Ns cumulonimbogenitus or Ns cumulogenitus). By definition, nimbostratus is always accompanied by the complementary features praecipitatio or virga. The accessory cloud, pannus, also is a common feature. At first the pannus consists of separate units, but later they may merge into a continuous layer and extend upward into the nimbostratus. Nimbostratus is most easily confused, in identification, with thick masses of altostratus, stratus, or stratocumulus. Altostratus, however, is lighter in color, appears less uniform from below, and does not completely hide the sun. In case of further doubt, a cloud is called nimbostratus if precipitation from it reaches the ground. Stratus also may have precipitation, but only of very small-sized particles. Stratocumulus shows clear relief and a well-defined limit of its base. See cloud classification.
- Part of Speech: noun
- Synonym(s):
- Blossary:
- Industry/Domain: Weather
- Category: Meteorology
- Company: AMS
- Product:
- Acronym-Abbreviation:
Other Languages:
Member comments
Terms in the News
Billy Morgan
Sports; Snowboarding
The British snowboarder Billy Morgan has landed the sport’s first ever 1800 quadruple cork. The rider, who represented Great Britain in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was in Livigno, Italy, when he achieved the man-oeuvre. It involves flipping four times, while body also spins with five complete rotations on a sideways or downward-facing axis. The trick ...
Marzieh Afkham
Broadcasting & receiving; News
Marzieh Afkham, who is the country’s first foreign ministry spokeswoman, will head a mission in east Asia, the state news agency reported. It is not clear to which country she will be posted as her appointment has yet to be announced officially. Afkham will only be the second female ambassador Iran has had. Under the last shah’s rule, Mehrangiz Dolatshahi, a ...
Weekly Packet
Language; Online services; Slang; Internet
Weekly Packet or "Paquete Semanal" as it is known in Cuba is a term used by Cubans to describe the information that is gathered from the internet outside of Cuba and saved onto hard drives to be transported into Cuba itself. Weekly Packets are then sold to Cuban's without internet access, allowing them to obtain information just days - and sometimes hours - after it ...
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
Banking; Investment banking
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution established to address the need in Asia for infrastructure development. According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia needs $800 billion each year for roads, ports, power plants or other infrastructure projects before 2020. Originally proposed by China in 2013, a signing ...
Spartan
Online services; Internet
Spartan is the codename given to the new Microsoft Windows 10 browser that will replace Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer. The new browser will be built from the ground up and disregard any code from the IE platform. It has a new rendering engine that is built to be compatible with how the web is written today. The name Spartan is named after the ...
Featured Terms
Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark
In the movie, Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark, there was a famous scene where our beloved archaeologist, was challenged by a guy with a ...
Contributor
Featured blossaries
stanley soerianto
0
Terms
107
Blossaries
6
Followers
Famous Magicians
Browers Terms By Category
- SAT vocabulary(5103)
- Colleges & universities(425)
- Teaching(386)
- General education(351)
- Higher education(285)
- Knowledge(126)
Education(6837) Terms
- Dating(35)
- Romantic love(13)
- Platonic love(2)
- Family love(1)
Love(51) Terms
- Satellites(455)
- Space flight(332)
- Control systems(178)
- Space shuttle(72)
Aerospace(1037) Terms
- Osteopathy(423)
- Acupuncture(18)
- Alternative psychotherapy(17)
- Ayurveda(9)
- Homeopathy(7)
- Naturopathy(3)