A cloud type that combines puffy cumulus characteristics with the layered, sheet-like appearance of stratus clouds.
From Latin 'cumulus' (heap) + 'stratus' (layer, spread out). Named in 19th-century meteorology to classify clouds displaying both vertical development and horizontal stratification.
Cumulostratus clouds often appear when the atmosphere can't decide whether to pile up or spread out, making them common before thunderstorms when energy is building.
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