Category: Altostratus clouds

Sunrise and Cirrus splendor; the rarely seen Cirrus castellanus floats by

Gee, three days with a cloud or two over droughty Catalina!   Yay! Here’s yesterday morning’s nice Cirrus uncinus (icy clouds with long trails). Then, later that morning, the RARELY seen Cirrus castellanus sporting some mammatus (downward protuberances at the bottom) showed up.  (I should note that some of the female atmos sci students at… Continue reading Sunrise and Cirrus splendor; the rarely seen Cirrus castellanus floats by

“Send in the clouds”….then the wind, the rain, the cold front, the snow

Too bad Steven Sondheim wasn’t a meteorologist.  He might have written some great weather songs.  Instead, he chose to write about “clowns.” Hmmmm.  Perhaps he WAS thinking about some weatherman in those days when he used the word “clowns.”  Who can forget that the LA Times  headline about weather forecasting in 1981;  the headline that… Continue reading “Send in the clouds”….then the wind, the rain, the cold front, the snow

“‘Altostratus'” at 30,000?”

I’m glad you asked that question.  Has to do with rules, cloud rules.   It is true that at that altitude above the ground, 30,000 to 40,000 feet, we mostly think of cirrus or “cirriform” clouds.  But those clouds, by our cloud definitions, cannot have shading during the daytime with ONE exception, Cirrus spissatus, a… Continue reading “‘Altostratus’” at 30,000?”

Altostratus: a misunderstood cloud and for good reason

Yesterday afternoon the clouds thickened and dimmed the sun, and our high temperature struggled only into the mid-50s.  What cloud was that?  Here it is, with Twin Peaks on the horizon. Our names for clouds, originating with English pharmacist, Luke Howard, are based on visual attributes from the ground.  Here, “Altostratus”  (As) does RESEMBLE its… Continue reading Altostratus: a misunderstood cloud and for good reason

Arizona: Colorado temperatures, Colorado clouds

It was a mind-boggling, hiking-challenging -30 F at Grand Canyon AP yesterday morning.  Overhead of Flagstaff,  at 5 AM MST yesterday it was -38 C (-36 F) and that temperature was the lowest temperature at 500 millibars in all of the US.   It is really, really rare to see -38 C over Arizona!  … Continue reading Arizona: Colorado temperatures, Colorado clouds

Colorful announcement of a storm

This glorious sunrise today about 7:30 AM announces in its way that a strong storm is on the way. Why? First of all the clouds, “altocumulus lenticularis” are the lower, rippled clouds, combined with a higher,  solid layer of altocumulus and altostratus clouds demonstrates that the air is moist to saturated over a great depth… Continue reading Colorful announcement of a storm