Plain English Meaning
A weather word for clouds that look torn or shredded instead of forming neat, solid shapes.
Full Definition
A descriptive term applied to clouds that appear in ragged, broken, irregular shreds rather than as a coherent mass. Fractus is used as a modifier with two cloud types: cumulus fractus (ragged cumulus) and stratus fractus (ragged stratus), often forming in unstable air or beneath precipitating cloud layers.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation weather study and visual weather checks when a pilot is identifying low, ragged cloud fragments around the airport or along a route.
Derivation
From the Latin fractus, meaning 'broken' (the past participle of frangere, 'to break'). It signals the visual character of the cloud — broken-looking — which is exactly what the pilot sees in the sky.
Why Pilots Care
Signals strong surface winds or turbulence that can affect takeoff, landing, and low-level flight.
Analogy
Fractus clouds can look like torn pieces of cotton drifting below a larger cloud.
Intuition Check
Do not read fractus as a separate storm type. It describes the ragged, broken shape of cloud pieces.
Example Sentence 1
Ragged stratus fractus drifted below the main cloud deck, lowering the ceiling along the approach path.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot noted fractus formations below the overcast and elected a higher approach to avoid turbulence.