Wednesday 24 April 2013

Clouds Intrigue.



I've had my head in the clouds again.  These fluffy clouds racing along several thousand feet high formed an intriguing shape.  Are these Cirrus or Cirrostratus clouds?  The names of clouds are hard enough to pronounce let alone remember!  There were higher clouds which must be Cirrus, so what be these?  A quick read of WikiClouds indicates that the names all have Latin bases, are still difficult to pronounce, and are subdivided into many further classifications.  I am no further forward, but still intrigued.

Met Office guide to cloud types and pronunciations
Source: metoffice.gov.uk

The BBC tell it well I say.  Worth a read. Not that those of you in tropical climes need worry about clouds.


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13 comments:

Helen Devries said...

What!
With the rainy season storm clouds closing on on us for an afternoon of torrential downpours...thunderbolts sizzling past the balcony....thunderclaps drowning the noise of the rain on the roof....

But the mornings are good!

Unknown said...

All while walking around in a fog... So, what's the point?

Adullamite said...

Helen, The sun always shines for you!

Jerry, You 'mist,' geddit...?

red dirt girl said...

Neat little guide to clouds. I'm sure as a child one of my chosen future professions was to be a weather girl (not knowing meteorology was an actual professional science.)

I'd say cirrostratus is 'spot on.'
:)
xxx

Adullamite said...

RDG, You would be a great weather girl!

Unknown said...

What's with you being so nice to the lasses lately? Who are you, and what have you done with our cantankerous ol' coot of a Scot?

Adullamite said...

Jerry, I am always, unlike you, nice to pretty young lassies. These girls deserve it.

alan1704 said...

I am with you, i live with my head in the clouds.

Lee said...

I thought I'd commented already...but obviously, I haven't! I meant to...perhaps I had my head in the clouds instead!

It's a clear blue sky here today...perfect weather at the moment. Nice! Nice! Nice!

Jenny Woolf said...

There;s a fantastic book that came out a few years ago about clouds, it was a big glossy one but by now I guess you can probably get it on Amazon, but it had amazing photos and lots of information. I saw a sky yesterday that was exactly as if someone had painted it - but better - thousands of little clouds. Incredible. And it brought the rain this morning of course ...

Adullamite said...

Alan, A good place to be.

Lee, Probably lost in my spam. I'm having trouble with the incoming mail.

Jenny, A painted sky sounds good.

soubriquet said...

I've looked at clouds from both sides now.

Flew out of Houston, literally in a thunderstorm, we were delayed take-off as thunder, lightning, and torrential rain smote the airport.
On take-off, the pilot warned that it would be lumpy. The sky was packed with rocks. Then, eventually, we burst out of the side of a vast spiralling cloud system, I looked back, to see it towering high above is, and far below too. I could see flashes of light within it. My journey north over the united states was made the more fascinating by watching a series of storm systems. (the flight from Houston to London Heathrow routes north east, over the Appalachians, toward the St Lawrence seaway, eventually leaving the north-american continent over Newfoundland and Labrador)

Adullamite said...

Soub, That sounds both fearful and interesting! I love watching the clouds, although I only ever fly to Edinburgh and back, as the formations are fab.