noun
cirrostratus
A high-altitude, thin, whitish cloud layer that often produces halo phenomena. Technical meteorological term.
巻層雲が空全体に広がると、太陽の周りに暈が見えることがある。
When cirrostratus spreads across the sky, a halo can sometimes be seen around the sun.
Standard kanji spelling for cirrostratus; the first character 巻 means 'roll up' or 'scroll' and is used in cloud terminology.
Alternate spelling using 絹 (silk); less common than 巻層雲.
Compound of 巻 (ken, 'roll up' or 'scroll', used in cloud names) + 層 (sō, 'layer') + 雲 (un, 'cloud'). The spelling 絹層雲 uses 絹 (kinu, 'silk') for the thin, silky appearance.