This photograph is of stratocumulus clouds at sunset. Click on image for full size version (47K JPG) Courtesy of Carlye Calvin/UCAR

Stratocumulus (weather symbol - Sc) clouds consist of water droplets and belong to the Low Cloud (surface-2000m) group. These clouds are low, lumpy, and gray. These clouds can look like cells under a microscope - sometimes they line up in rows and other times they spread out.

Only light precipitation, generally in the form of drizzle, occurs with stratocumulus clouds. To distinguish between a stratocumulus and an altocumulus cloud, point your hand toward the cloud. If the cloud is about the size of your fist, then it is stratocumulus.