A nimbostratus is really a cloud with low cloud base. So why does it belong to the family medium high clouds? Well, actually it belongs to any group because its vertical extension is massive. One could say that a nimbostratus is an altostratus (which is a medium high cloud) but is given the name nimbo when the cloud gives precipitation. The colour is normally dark grey and the cloud has no distinct features, mostly covering the whole sky in a thick layer. Nimbostratus only exists in connection with a weather front and should not be mixed up with other stratus like cloud layers.

A grey underside and you might ask how one knows that this is a nimbostratus and not something else... Well, you can't know just by studying the picture, you need to know the surrounding conditions and the weather in general for that specific day.

Same village exactly one year later as the one above, and again, a rainy day in Sweden.

One might think this is a normal stratus cloud. Well, it is quite light in colour to be a nimbostratus but precipitation all day long in connection with a weather front depicts the cloud.

This nimbostratus shows an unusual layer formation with several clear lines across. Weather is, once again, remarkable in its presentation.