Altostratus
Altostratus are middle-altitude clouds that develop horizontally and have a flat and uniform texture in the mid levels. As a middle-altitude cloud type, they can be made up of water droplets (including supercooled droplets), ice crystals, or a mixture of the two.
Altostratus clouds usually appear as gray or blueish featureless sheets, although some variants have wavy or banded bases. The sun can be seen through thinner altostratus clouds, but thicker layers can be quite opaque.
Altostratus clouds usually predict the arrival of warm fronts. Once altostratus clouds associated with a warm front arrive, continuous rain or snow may follow in the next 12 to 24 hours. While altostratus clouds may herald the arrival of wetter weather, they themselves do not produce significant precipitation, though they can produce sprinkles or light showers. Thunderstorms can be embedded in altostratus clouds, however, bringing showers.
Because altostratus clouds can contain ice crystals, they can produce some optical phenomena like iridescence and coronas.
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