Cloud physics vertically developed clouds, the cumulonimbus type is the tallest and can virtually span the entire troposphere from a few hundred metres above the ground up to the tropopause. It is the cloud responsible for thunderstorms. Some cirriform clouds can form at very high to extreme levels above the troposphere, mostly above the polar regions of Earth. Polar stratospheric clouds clouds are seen but rarely in winter at altitudes of 18 to 30 kilometers, while in summer, noctilucent clouds occasionally form at high latitudes at an altitude range of 76 to 85 kilometers. Homospheric types determined by cross-classification of forms and
Flammagenitus (cloud) Flammagenitus (cloud) A flammagenitus, also known as a pyrocumulus cloud or fire cloud, is a dense cumuliform cloud associated with fire or volcanic eruptions that may produce dry lightning (lightning without rain). A flammagenitus is similar dynamically in some ways to a firestorm, and the two phenomena may occur in conjunction with each other. However, either may occur without the other. A flammagenitus cloud is produced by the intense heating of the air from the surface. The intense heat induces convection, which causes the air mass to rise to a point of stability, usually in the presence of moisture. Phenomena