This is a picture of a Flat Stratus Cloud Deck. It was a beautiful an interesting horizon to view this morning, especially with the near full moon in the backgroud. AI describes this as follows:
Flat Stratus Cloud Deck
A flat stratus cloud deck is caused by widespread, gentle upward motion of moist air combined with a temperature inversion that caps the cloud layer from rising. Unlike puffy cumulus clouds driven by local, intense thermal updrafts, stratus clouds form under stable atmospheric conditions. When a large mass of warm, moist air slowly overrides a cooler air mass—or when air cools uniformly near the ground—moisture condenses horizontally into a vast, featureless sheet. A temperature inversion acts like a rigid "ceiling," flattening the top of the cloud deck and preventing any vertical growth.
