A stratus cloud can form from stratocumulus spreading out under an inversion, indicating a continuation of prolonged cloudy weather with drizzle for several hours and then an improvement as it breaks into stratocumulus.
According to Sednev, Menon, and McFarquhar, Arctic stratus and other low-level clouds form roughly 50% of the annual cloud cover in Arctic regions, causing a large effect on the energy emissions and absorptions through radiation [REF].