A type of mid-level cloud formation that appears as a uniform, grayish-white layer at moderate altitudes, usually between 6,500 and 20,000 feet.
From Latin 'altus' (high/middle) combined with 'stratus' (layers of clouds). Named in the 19th century as meteorologists created a standardized cloud classification system.
Meteorologists discovered that naming clouds by altitude and shape made weather prediction way more accurate—altostratus clouds often signal that rain is coming within the next 24 hours, so weather forecasters use them as nature's warning system.
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