Cirrus clouds, known for their wispy, feathery appearance, are shaped by strong winds high in the atmosphere. These winds act on the ice crystals that make up cirrus clouds, twisting and spreading ...

During the day, contrail cirrus, like clouds, can actually reflect the sun's radiation, cooling the atmosphere. But at night, they trap heat in the atmosphere.

Higher up, cirrus clouds made of ice crystals allow solar radiation to pass through, heating up our world. Cirrus clouds then trap in the heat like a "blanket," Gillieron said.

Wall clouds are rare around here, so we don't have an examples from Chime In this summer. But there is a textbook example of one from the National Weather Service.

A Met Office spokesman said although the formation is a fairly common occurrence, the pictures are a particularly beautiful example. Named the cirrus cloud, it is completely made up of ice crystals.

The clouds are estimated to arrive in central Indiana between 1 to 2 p.m., around the time when the partial eclipse will begin (which is 1:50 p.m.).

High cirrus clouds have continued to build all morning across Upstate New York. Those clouds, about 25 miles high, are composed of tiny ice crystals and could still allow good views of the eclipse.

Clouds -- from cumulus and cirrus to cumulonimbus -- are a varied and complicated phenomenon. Their composition depends on where they are located in the troposphere, Earth's lowest layer of ...