Editing Cirrocumulus cloud (section)

{{Short description|Genus of high-altitude clouds}}
{{Infobox Cloud
|name=Cirrocumulus cloud
|image location=Cirrocumulus 20040830.jpg
|image name=Cirrocumulus floccus
|abbreviation=Cc<ref name="ahrens-120"/>
| symbol         = 
|genus=Cirro- (''curl'')<br>-cumulus (''heaped'')
| species = * Castellanus
* Flocus
* Lenticularis
* Stratiformis
| variety= * Lacunosus
* Undulatus
|altitude_m=6,096–15,000
|altitude_ft=20,000–49,000
|level=high
|appearance=Small, flakey, and white high-altitude cumulus patches.
|precipitation=Occasionally [[virga]].<ref name="GATech">{{cite web |title=Cirrocumulus Clouds |url=http://nenes.eas.gatech.edu/Cloud/Clouds.pdf |work=Cloud Microphysics Webpage |publisher=Georgia Institute of Technology |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512162814/http://nenes.eas.gatech.edu/Cloud/Clouds.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> May form ahead of a frontal system, especially together with other cirriform clouds meaning rain in around 10 hours.
| thickness      = 
| Ice content    = 
}}
'''Cirrocumulus''' is one of the three main genus types of high-altitude tropospheric [[cloud]]s, the other two being [[cirrus cloud|cirrus]] and [[cirrostratus cloud|cirrostratus]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Funk |first=Ted |title=Cloud Classifications and Characteristics |url=http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/soo/docu/cloudchart.pdf |work=The Science Corner |publisher=NOAA |access-date=6 February 2011}}</ref> They usually occur at an altitude of {{convert|5|to|12|km|ft|abbr=on}}, however they can occur as low as {{convert|10000|ft|km|abbr=on}} in the arctic and weather reporting standards such as the Canadian MANOBS suggests heights of {{convert|29000|ft|km|abbr=on}} in summer and {{convert|26000|ft|km|abbr=on}} in winter.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/weather-manuals-documentation/manobs-surface-observations.html#toc10 | title=Manual of Surface Weather Observation Standards (MANOBS) 8th Edition, Amendment 2 | date=2 December 2021 }}</ref> Like lower-altitude cumuliform and stratocumuliform clouds, cirrocumulus signifies [[Atmospheric convection|convection]]. Unlike other  high-altitude tropospheric clouds like  cirrus and cirrostratus, cirrocumulus includes a small amount of liquid water droplets, although these are in a [[supercooled]] state. Ice crystals are the predominant component, and typically, the ice crystals cause the supercooled water drops in the cloud to rapidly freeze, transforming the cirrocumulus into cirrostratus. This process can also produce precipitation in the form of a [[virga]] consisting of ice or snow. Thus, cirrocumulus clouds are usually short-lived.<ref name=gpp>{{cite book |title=The Cloud Collector's Handbook |first=Gavin|last=Pretor-Pinney |date=2009 |publisher=Sceptre |isbn=978-0-340-91943-9}}, p.21</ref> They usually only form as part of a short-lived transitional phase within an area of cirrus clouds and can also form briefly as a result of the breaking up of part of a cumulonimbus anvil.

Properly, the term cirrocumulus refers to each cloud, but is typically also used to refer to an entire patch of cirrocumulus. When used in this way, each cirrocumulus element is referred to as a "cloudlet".<ref>{{cite web |title=Cirrocumulus – Meteorology/Climate |url=http://ian.umces.edu/imagelibrary/displayimage-search-0-6309.html |work=Integration and Application Network |publisher=University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science |access-date=6 February 2011}}</ref>