About Valerie Varnuska

Fascinated by nature and the many forms that it takes, Valerie Varnuska of Westbury, NY, enjoys taking in the wonders of the sky. Valerie Varnuska is an avid hiker and believes in taking the time to look up at the sky, where the clouds form patterns that excite the imagination.

Clouds come in a variety of shapes, determined by their structure and where they develop in the atmosphere. Those dwelling the farthest above the earth's surface are known as high clouds and are named using the prefix “cirrus” or “cirro,” meaning high up or wispy. Cirrus clouds, for example, are clouds of ice crystals that are silky in appearance and often look like locks of hair. They are the whitest clouds in the sky in the day and often reflect the colors of a sunset in the evening.

Cirrus clouds typically grow at 18,000 to 40,000 feet in altitude, as do cirrostratus clouds. Flat and layered, as the suffix “stratus” indicates, these clouds are thin and transparent. They span large swaths of sky, yet allow the sun to shine brightly through, often strongly enough that the light still casts a shadow on the ground. When this occurs, a casual viewer will often see a halo or rings around the sun.

Cirrocumulus clouds also develop high in the atmosphere, typically at 20,000 to 40,000 feet. The suffix “cumulus” refers to the heaped-up appearance of these clouds, which are actually clusters of smaller, evenly spaced cloudlets. These clusters of cloudlets, made of ice crystals and relatively rare to see, appear as unshaded ripples in the sky.