Accessory cloud Accessory cloud An accessory cloud is a cloud which is dependent on a larger cloud system for its development and continuance. It is often an appendage but also can be adjacent to the parent cloud system. The arcus and roll clouds, shelf cloud, wall cloud, and scud are examples of low level or vertical accessory clouds whilst the anvil, and overshooting top, are examples of high level accessory clouds. The condensation funnel of funnel clouds and tornadoes are also accessory clouds. They are associated with deep moist convection and especially cumulonimbus, the primary cloud producing thunderstorms. The pileus and mammatus
Cloud at which the air becomes saturated. The main mechanism behind this process is adiabatic cooling. As the air is cooled to its dew point and becomes saturated, water vapor normally condenses to form cloud drops. This condensation normally occurs on cloud condensation nuclei such as salt or dust particles that are small enough to be held aloft by normal circulation of the air. Frontal and cyclonic lift occur when stable air is forced aloft at weather fronts and around centers of low pressure by a process called convergence. Warm fronts associated with extratropical cyclones tend to generate mostly cirriform and