Depending on their height and thickness, ice clouds could either warm or cool Earth’s surface. Getting the details of these clouds right in global climate model (GCM) simulations is an important step toward increasing the accuracy of future climate projections. Researchers showed that ice particles detrained from deep convective clouds (such as thunderstorms) are smaller and fall faster than previously assumed. Their study relied on aircraft observations from multiple field campaigns. Scientists used this new knowledge to better represent ice clouds in a GCM. This information also helps improve GCM simulation of ice clouds in and near regions of active convection and heavy rain.