What is cirrus?

Cirrus clouds are thin, wispy clouds that float high up in the sky.

Imagine you're wearing a light scarf on a chilly day, it's soft, not too thick, and it fluttered around your neck as you ran. That’s kind of what cirrus clouds look like, but way higher up. They’re made of ice crystals, which are tiny pieces of ice, just like how a snowflake is formed.

Cirrus clouds form when cold air is high in the sky and there's some moisture (like water vapor) to make them. Think of it like breathing out on a cold day, your breath turns into tiny bits of fog, just like how cirrus clouds form from moisture freezing into ice crystals.

Sometimes, when the weather is going to change, you can see cirrus clouds first. They're like the sky's way of saying, “Hey, something’s coming!”, maybe a storm or a sunny day soon after.