Cloud particle size distributions (PSDs) are crucial in determining the clouds physical and optical properties and hence their radiative feedback to the climate. Here we present unprecedented occurrence patterns of cloud particles derived from 270 hours of cloud measurements (≈975.000 PSDs). The focus of the analysis is on cirrus clouds. In particular, cirrus PSDs for cold to warm cirrus temperatures and microphysically thin to thick cirrus clouds are provided in a novel presentation as heat maps. The observations are accompanied by simulations of ice crystal growth in cirrus of in situ-origin, showing that the maximum size to which the cirrus ice crystals can grow increases with temperature from approx. 60 μm@T<200 K to 230 μm@T>220 K. Crystals larger than this size are of liquid-origin. The combined evaluation of observations and simulations allows the attribution of processes shaping the PSDs. Important results are that, with increasing temperature and cirrus thickness, the most frequent ice particles change from smaller and fewer crystals of in situ-origin to larger and more crystals of both in situ and liquid-origin, i.e. the cirrus type changes from in situ to liquid-origin. In addition, three characteristic ice crystal size ranges are identified. The nucleation/evaporation size interval (∼3–20 <em>μ</em>m), most common in the coldest, thinnest in situ-origin cirrus; the overlap size interval (∼20–230 <em>μ</em>m), where both in situ-origin liquid-origin cirrus occur and the uplift/sedimenation size interval (>∼230 <em>μ</em>m), that consists of liquid-origin ice crystals. The overlap size interval is the most frequent, containing about half of all ice crystals.