Altocumulus in the sunset followed by Cirrus clouds ~ Meteorology

Altocumulus in the sunset followed by Cirrus clouds was photographed above Denmark on November 20, 2009, in the evening in Odense city. The Altocumulus clouds seen in the photo below is followed by what seems to be a Cirrus cloud system.

I am no weather expert or meteorologist and I think it is very difficult sometimes to classify cloud types correctly. So I assume the cloud system in the above photo is Altocumulus weather system. See the cloud chart on National Weather Service NWS

Altocumulus in the sunset followed by Cirrus

In the next photo below the Altocumulus has drifted towards me and are now above me. Behind them is another cloud system and I suspect them to be Cirrus clouds. Both cloud types can exist at the same altitude, which they seem to be here.

In the photo below the difference between the two cloud types are obvious.

To me, it looks like two weather systems meet around the same altitude. Cirrus clouds are normally above 16.000 feet and Altocumulus clouds are between 6.000 – 20.000 feet. So it is possible these two systems are nearly at the same altitude.

Cirrus clouds

In the photo below you see a close-up that shows what I believe is the beginning of the so-called Cirrus clouds.

The characteristics of the Cirrus cloud type is the long strokes that typically end up in a hook. These are not really evident in the above photo, but below photo reveals them better.

So, the Altocumulus clouds in the sunset ended up with a cloud cover of Cirrus clouds…

Altocumulus and Cirrus cloud photo gallery

In the photo gallery below you have a few more photos to look at in the time span of one hour from 3.30 PM to 4.30 PM local time Odense city. The third and fourth photo shows an unknown type of cloud that I can not classify. Depending on what eyes who see, could look like an abstract figure of something.