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Homomutatus Cloud:Transformed Human-Made Cloud

Learn how persistent human-made clouds, especially aircraft condensation trails, spread into cirrus, cirrocumulus, or cirrostratus homomutatus.

Cirrus fibratus homomutatus (Ci fib homut)
Cirrus fibratus homomutatus (Ci fib homut)

How to identify homomutatus clouds

A transformed variation of homogenitus clouds that takes on a more natural appearance

With homo translated from latin meaning human and mutatus translated from latin meaning mutated from, the ‘homomutatus’ cloud formation is found in three cloud types: cirrus, cirrocumulus, and cirrostratus. The proper cloud classification abbreviation for this cloud type is ‘Ci homut’, ‘Cc homut’, and ‘Cs homut’. They describe a cloud that forms from a human source (homogenitus) but has mutated into a cloud that has a more natural appearance.

After aircraft contrails persist for a certain amount of time, there’s a chance that upper-level winds push and morph these into clouds that appear completely natural. Should a contrail eventually turn into comma-shaped cirrus clouds (uncinus cloud species), you’d classify them as cirrus uncinus homomutatus. Should the contrail break up into high-altitude cloudlets, you’d classify them as cirrocumulus homomutatus.

And should a contrail can even persist long enough to become fibrous cloud layer covering a large portion of the sky, you’d classify the cloud as cirrostratus fibratus homomutatus.

Homomutatus and its cloud types

Homomutatus can modify each cloud type shown below. Compare how the same term appears across different levels and broader cloud forms.

Compare homomutatus with related other clouds

Use the defining shape, arrangement, associated cloud type, and full sky context before selecting the most appropriate term.

Homomutatus vs. homogenitus

Homomutatus identifies a human-made cloud that has spread or transformed. Homogenitus describes the cloud while its directly human-generated form is still recognizable.

Illustration of homomutatus clouds
Homomutatus
Illustration of homogenitus clouds
Homogenitus
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