Editing Cumulus cloud (section)

=== Cirrocumulus clouds ===
[[File:Cirrocumulus in Hong Kong.jpg|thumb|alt=A large field of cirrocumulus clouds in a blue sky, beginning to merge near the upper left.|A large field of cirrocumulus clouds]]
{{main article|Cirrocumulus cloud}}

Cirrocumulus clouds form in patches<ref name="YDN-364">{{harvnb|Miyazaki|Yoshida|Dobashi|Nishita|2001|p=364}}</ref> and cannot cast shadows. They commonly appear in regular, rippling patterns<ref name="H&H-340">{{harvnb|Hubbard|2000|p=340}}</ref> or in rows of clouds with clear areas between.<ref name="cloud-classification">{{cite web|last=Funk|first=Ted|title=Cloud Classifications and Characteristics|url=http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/soo/docu/cloudchart.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040720234037/http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/soo/docu/cloudchart.pdf|archive-date=July 20, 2004|access-date=19 October 2012|work=The Science Corner|publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]|page=1}}</ref> Cirrocumulus are, like other members of the cumuliform and stratocumuliform categories, formed via [[convection|convective]] processes.<ref name="parungo-251">{{harvnb|Parungo|1995|p=251}}</ref> Significant growth of these patches indicates high-altitude instability and can signal the approach of poorer weather.<ref name="common-clouds"/><ref name="audubon-448"/> The ice crystals in the bottoms of cirrocumulus clouds tend to be in the form of hexagonal cylinders. They are not solid, but instead tend to have stepped funnels coming in from the ends. Towards the top of the cloud, these crystals have a tendency to clump together.<ref name="parungo-252">{{harvnb|Parungo|1995|p=252}}</ref> These clouds do not last long, and they tend to change into cirrus because as the water vapor continues to deposit on the ice crystals, they eventually begin to fall, destroying the upward convection. The cloud then dissipates into cirrus.<ref name="parungo-254">{{harvnb|Parungo|1995|p=254}}</ref> Cirrocumulus clouds come in four species which are common to all three genus-types that have limited-convective or stratocumuliform characteristics: ''stratiformis'', ''lenticularis'', ''castellanus'', and ''floccus''.<ref name="common-clouds">{{cite web|title=Common Cloud Names, Shapes, and Altitudes|publisher=Georgia Institute of Technology|url=http://nenes.eas.gatech.edu/Cloud/Clouds.pdf|access-date=12 February 2011|pages=2, 10&ndash;13|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> They are [[iridescence|iridescent]] when the constituent supercooled water droplets are all about the same size.<ref name="audubon-448">{{harvnb|Ludlum|2000|p=448}}</ref>