Strange sunset brew of clouds and color; but was it natural?

Cutting to the chase:  I don’t think so. Yesterday,  after an ordinary beginning,,  finished in a spectacular, if likely artificial way.  Let us work our way through yesterday’s cloudulations:   Later that morning….. But let’s go zooming up to flight level and take a closer look for a second: Now, where was I?  Got mammatus… Continue reading Strange sunset brew of clouds and color; but was it natural?

In case you missed them…a 2008 full moon and, moving ahead, yesterday’s sunrise

  From the Cowboys in Laramie, Wyoming, this TUS sounding for yesterday morning in the pre-dawn hours: As the morning wore on, the Altocumulus deck faded away, moving east, and we were left with some Cirrus clouds, but what kind? Well, that was  it for photography yesterday. Doesn’t seem to be any reliable indication of… Continue reading In case you missed them…a 2008 full moon and, moving ahead, yesterday’s sunrise

A stragne and wonderful day

Many strange1  and wonderful sights were seen yesterday; I could feel the excitement out there as one cloud  microstructural mystery after another regaled our Catalina skies. How cold are these clouds?  Lets look at the TUS sounding, launched at about 3:30 AM yesterday morning. That bank of Altocumulus was racing at more than 50 mph… Continue reading A stragne and wonderful day

Awesome evening skies leave Catalinans with but a trace of rain, but over there by Picture Rocks, they got over an inch!

“Too many pictures, for one site…”, a continuing theme here1, to paraphrase “? and the Mysterians1“. Two stations near Picture Rocks reported 1.25 and 1.35 inches, respectively, so some major rain fell fairly close to us.   You can see the amount arounds around the State or here  at the Banner U of AZ rainlog,org site.… Continue reading Awesome evening skies leave Catalinans with but a trace of rain, but over there by Picture Rocks, they got over an inch!

A nice cloud yesterday, not a great cloud yesterday; dramatic day ahead

The clouds were somewhat of a disappointment yesterday, not the stupendous photogenic day CM was expecting. Maybe CM is total fraud, gets Big Oil funding and should be investigated by Rep. Grijalva as other weather folk are,   like the great Prof. and National Academy of Sciences Fellow,  Dr. Judy Curry,  a friend, and about… Continue reading A nice cloud yesterday, not a great cloud yesterday; dramatic day ahead

100-150 mph winds overhead bring pretty patterns in Cirrocumulus clouds; also, an experiment in detecting the phase of clouds

If you thought those high clouds were moving faster than usual, you were right.  The winds were about 120 mph at that level, about 28,000 feet above sea level, and just over 150 mph a few thousand feet above that level. You may have noticed two things, if you are good, that there were repeated… Continue reading 100-150 mph winds overhead bring pretty patterns in Cirrocumulus clouds; also, an experiment in detecting the phase of clouds

The first of many cloud blobs in the days ahead, some rain-filled, passes over during the night

Here it is.  You may need an optical enhancement tool to see the radar echo speck nearest Catalina, and its not the one nearest the arrowhead below, but continue in that direction: You can also check on all the rain  that  fell overnight in the region  here, courtesy of Pima County ALERT rain gauges.  BTW,… Continue reading The first of many cloud blobs in the days ahead, some rain-filled, passes over during the night

Phenomenological extravaganza

First you had the rarely seen “Aircraft Produced Ice Particles” (APIPs, or “High Temperature Aircraft Contrails” (HTACs) in supercooled Altocumulus in the afternoon.  Contrails were being produced in clouds that were “only” -20 C to -30 C (-4 to -22 F) and aircraft contrails were thought to be impossible at those temperatures, but rather, only… Continue reading Phenomenological extravaganza

Seattle comes to Catalina

Friends, arriving this afternoon from Seattle for a sunny and warm couple of vacation days, will find that Catalina weather today is exactly like the weather they left in Seattle; poor Tommy and Patty. Clouds will fill in as the day goes on,  becoming pretty cloudy at times, especially in the afternoon hours.   They … Continue reading Seattle comes to Catalina