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Snow can form in the gentle updrafts of stratus clouds or at high altitudes in very cold regions of a thunderstorm.

I'd started therapy again during a particularly gray stretch of weather; flat, uniform stratus clouds hung in the sky, seemingly insulating us from sun, rain, snow or any variety, really.

This gray layer of stratus clouds is generated by coastal waters chilled by the California Current flowing south from Alaska.

Without this sunscreen of stratus clouds, temperatures are likely to increase along with the evaporative demand — or atmosphere’s thirst — that sucks moisture out of soils and vegetation and elevates fire danger.

A study published in 2018 found that the frequency of coastal stratus clouds had declined by 20% to 50% since the 1970s as a result of urbanization and production of greenhouse gases.