Stratus cloud classified as pannus clouds. Stratus only has one mutatus mother cloud. Stratus stratocumulomutatus clouds occur when stratocumulus opacus patches fuse to create a stratiform layer. Stratus clouds don't produce accessory clouds, but a supplementary feature praecipitatio is derived from Latin, which means "precipitation". Stratus clouds are too low to produce virga, or rain shears that evaporate before reaching the ground. A stratus cloud can form from stratocumulus spreading out under an inversion, indicating a continuation of prolonged cloudy weather with drizzle for several hours and then an improvement as it breaks into stratocumulus. Stratus clouds can persist for days in
Cloud and stratiform characteristics in the form of rolls, ripples, or elements. They generally form as a result of "limited convection" in an otherwise mostly stable airmass topped by an inversion layer. If the inversion layer is absent or higher in the troposphere, increased air mass instability may cause the cloud layers to develop tops in the form of turrets consisting of embedded cumuliform buildups. The stratocumuliform group is divided into cirrocumulus (high-level), altocumulus (mid-level), and stratocumulus (low-level). Cumuliform clouds generally appear in isolated heaps or tufts. They are the product of localized but generally "free-convective" lift where there are no