Stratocumulus clouds combine the layered character of stratus with the rounded elements of cumulus. They usually form as low cloud fields composed of broad rolls, patches, or connected cells, often with darker undersides and occasional openings of blue sky.
A stratocumulus deck may look heavy without producing significant precipitation. Its repeating forms create texture across a wide portion of the sky, while breaks in the layer can send moving pools of light over the landscape below.
These photographs focus on that tension between pattern and atmosphere: cloud fields gathering over open roads, mountains, lakes, and desert country. Because stratocumulus often merges visually with neighboring cloud forms, the gallery identifies photographs in which a low, connected layer of rounded elements is the dominant structure.
