Editing Stratocumulus cloud (section)

==Description==
Stratocumulus clouds are rounded clumps or patches of white to dark gray clouds that normally form in groups. The individual cloud elements, which cover more than 5 degrees of arc each, can connect with each other and are sometimes arranged in a regular pattern.<ref name="metoffice">{{cite web|url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/clouds/low-level-clouds/stratocumulus|title=Stratocumulus clouds|accessdate=10 November 2023|publisher=Meteorological Office of the UK}}</ref><ref name="ICA-SC">{{harvnb|Cohn|Bruhn|Anderson|Atkinson|2017|loc=Section 2.3.7}}</ref><ref name="jetstream">{{cite web|url=https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/clouds/ten-basic-clouds|title=Ten Basic Clouds|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|website=JetStream|accessdate=10 November 2023}}</ref>

===Occurrence===
Vast areas of subtropical and [[Polar climate|polar]] [[ocean]]s are covered with massive sheets of stratocumulus. These may organize into distinctive patterns which are currently under active study. In subtropics, they cover the edges of the [[horse latitude]] climatological highs, and reduce the amount of solar energy absorbed in the ocean.  When these drift over land the summer heat or winter cold is reduced. 'Dull weather' is a common expression incorporated with overcast stratocumulus days, which usually occur either in a [[warm sector]] between a warm and cold front in a depression, or in an area of high pressure, in the latter case, sometimes persisting over a specific area for several days. If the air over land is moist and hot enough, stratocumulus may develop to various [[cumulus cloud]]s, or, more commonly, the sheet of stratocumulus may become thick enough to produce some light rain. On drier areas they quickly dissipate over land, resembling [[cumulus humilis]]. This often occurs in late morning in areas under anticyclonic weather, the stratocumulus breaking up under the sun's heat and often reforming again by evening as the heat of the sun decreases again.

===Precipitation===
Most often, stratocumulus produce no precipitation, and when they do, it is generally only light [[rain]] or [[snow]]. However, these clouds are often seen at either the front or tail end of worse weather, so they may indicate storms to come, in the form of [[Thunderstorm|thunderheads]] or [[Gust front|gusty winds]]. They are also often seen underneath the cirrostratus and altostratus sheets that often precede a warm front, as these higher clouds decrease the sun's heat and therefore convection, causing any cumulus clouds to spread out into stratocumulus clouds.

[[File:Stratocumulus praecipitatio 1.jpg|thumb|Rain from stratocumulus cloud cover]]

===Comparison with altocumulus===
Stratocumulus clouds are similar in appearance to [[altocumulus cloud|altocumulus]] and can be mistaken for such. A simple test to distinguish these is to compare the size of individual masses or rolls: when pointing one's hand in the direction of the cloud, if the cloud is about the size of the thumb, it is altocumulus; if it is the size of one's fist, it is stratocumulus.<ref name="metoffice" /> This often does not apply when stratocumulus is of a broken, fractus form, when it may appear as small as altocumulus.

===Optical effects===
Stratocumulus clouds are the main type of cloud that can produce [[crepuscular rays]]. Thin stratocumulus clouds are also often the cause of [[corona (optical phenomenon)|corona]] effects around the Moon at night. All stratocumulus subtypes are coded C<sub>L</sub>5 except when formed from free convective mother clouds (C<sub>L</sub>4) or when formed separately from co-existing  (C<sub>L</sub>8).