'Warning Clouds' Above Bay Area Signal Coming Of Wet Weather

KPIX 5 Morning Weather Anchor Roberta Gonzales answers the questions you never get to ask on-air.

Q: Hey, Roberta! What kind of clouds are these this morning in Gilroy? ~Reporter Kiet Do and Photographer Brian Kiley.

A: What a terrific photo! Thanks guys and thank you for thinking of me! That is an amazingly, beautiful picture of alto-cumulus clouds in the morning sky!

There are mainly four types of clouds. They are: cirrus, nimbus, stratus and cumulus.

Your photo is of the cumulus family. Break down the word. "alto" and "cumulus'. Right there are you able to define what kind of clouds we are looking at! Alto is Latin for "high" cumulus is the cloud type. These types of clouds usually form around 6,5000 to 20,000 feet above ground level.

They can form at the same level as altostratus (another type of cloud) and together these two types of clouds can create formations stretching and seen for thousands of square miles! When you see these clouds, it indicates instability.

They can be considered "warning clouds" to Pilots, signaling "bumpy" weather ahead! Some of the altocumulus clouds can develop into towering thunderstorms.

We do have rain in the forecast for the Bay Area Thursday and a chance of thunderstorms during the afternoon. But anyone heading out to the A's game - like me - should stay dry. For a complete forecast please visit the CBS SF Weather page.

I would love to hear from you! Please send weather questions, observations and photos to me, Gonzales@kpix.cbs.com and I look forward to hearing from you!