Note for these clips in particular: due to the cloud video service, the alternate video source will have higher quality for most users.
The lower, ‘fluffy’ clouds known as cumulus get their name from the Latin word meaning ‘accumulation’ or ‘heap,’ perfectly capturing their bunched-up form. While typically found in the lower atmosphere, cumulus-like (cumuliform) clouds can experience convective forces at all levels.
As these clouds become more convective—a process driven by temperature differences resulting from cloud density and the heating of the sun and land—they can grow into towering cumulonimbus clouds. This development occurs when cooled air and water from the shaded, dense regions of the cloud descend as precipitation.
The cumulus clouds shown here are light to medium in density and remain below 4800 feet. A striking observation is that these lower clouds often move counter to the direction of upper-level clouds.
Their movement appears almost autonomous, with each water droplet’s path affected by countless other droplets and minuscule air currents, resulting in highly intricate patterns.
This complexity likely contributes to the challenges in smoothly rendering time-lapses of cumulus clouds; the data requirements for capturing such detail at a given quality level are substantial.