Start with what you can see
Shape, height, coverage, texture, and precipitation are more useful starting points than memorizing a directory of terms.
About What's This Cloud
A visual guide created to make cloud identification and classification easier to learn, understand, and enjoy.
Cloud identification should feel approachable
You don't have to be a meteorologist or fluent in Latin to learn about clouds. Cloudspotting can be enjoyed by students, pilots, educators, photographers, weather enthusiasts, and anyone who is curious about the sky.
What's This Cloud exists to turn an enormous classification system into a visual field guide that feels clear and inviting. Original photographs show what clouds look like in the real world, while original illustrations make their defining forms easier to compare.
The goal is simple: help more people look up, notice more, and feel confident describing what they see. ⛅️
A field guide built for curious sky watchers
The site is designed to take you from a familiar cloud name to a more complete classification without making the process feel overwhelming.
Compare photographs and illustrations
Real skies provide context. Clean illustrations isolate the visual clues that help similar clouds feel different.
Add detail only when it helps
Species, varieties, features, and accessory clouds refine a name when the evidence supports them, not because every cloud needs every label.
Meet Greg Goodson
Founder & Head Weather Geek
Greg's passion for weather began while growing up in New Jersey, watching summer squall lines arrive and following weather coverage on television. That fascination grew into years of storm chasing, cloud photography, and an ongoing search for an elusive Kelvin-Helmholtz wave cloud.
He is a Georgia Tech graduate with a degree in Marketing and Business Management. Away from the clouds, Greg works as a professional photographer and plays mandolin in a bluegrass band in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Start exploring the sky
Choose the path that fits where you are now, whether you're learning the names, identifying a cloud, or practicing a full classification.
Meet the 10 cloud types
Learn the main cloud genera by altitude, appearance, and the clues that make each one distinct.
Explore cloud types →Learn cloud identification
Follow a visual process for narrowing what you see into a useful, evidence-based classification.
Read the guide →Practice with real clouds
Work through original photographs and see how a cloud type and its subtype terms fit together.
Browse lessons →
Learn cloud identification with a free 80+ page ebook
Take the visual guide with you. The ebook explains the ten types of clouds with original photographs, illustrations, identification tips, and comparisons between similar clouds.
Download Here