A type of dark grey layered cloud that brings almost continous rain or snow. It is formed at an altitude of approximately 19,000 feet.
A dark, gray cloud characterized by more or less continuously falling precipitation. It is not accompanied by lightning, thunder, or hail.
A principal cloud type, gray in color and often dark, appearing as a solid sheet. Nimbostratus produce more or less continuous rain or snow or other type of precipitation, not accompanied by thunder and lightning.
A massive dark and gray colored cloud layer that blots out the light of the sun and has continuous precipitation.
Gray cloud layer, often dark, the appearance of which is rendered diffuse by more or less continuously falling rain or snow, which in most cases reaches the ground.
a gray colored and often dark cloud, accompanied by more or less continuously falling rain, snow, sleet, etc. and not by lightning, thunder, or hail
(abbrev. NS)- A cloud of the class characterized by a formless layer that is almost uniformly dark gray; a rain cloud of the layer type, of low altitude, usually below 8000 ft (2400 m).
(Ns) Latin "nimbus" - violent rain, "stratus" - layer A dark grey-looking cloud that often covers the entire sky. Some definitions of Nimbostratus include a required rainfall rate. Steady rain or snow generally falls from nimbostratus.
A combination of nimbus (rain) and stratus (flattened layer). A deep layer of thick, grey, formless rain cloud; A gray, often dark, cloud layer whose appearance is usually rendered diffuse by falling rain or snow, nimbostratus usually covers the entire sky and is thick enough to blot out the sun. Ragged clouds or shreds of clouds, called scuds, frequently occur below the main layer, indicating imminent wind and precipitation. The rain or snow produced by nimbostratus is steady and persistent, unlike the showers produced by some cumulus clouds. Nimbostratus is often classified as a low-altitude cloud, but it can appear at middle altitudes during a rainstorm.
This cloud exhibits a combination of rain or snow, and sometimes the base of the cloud cannot be seen because of the heaviness of precipitation. They are generally associated with fall and winter conditions, but can occur during any season.