Castellanus stream over Catalina! Virga in vicinity! Sprinkle at 5:21 AM! And at 5:26 AM! 5:37 AM!

I think ordinary weather, if a bit of a surprise, needs more shouting!                                              Sincerely, Cloud Maven Person!1

A trace of rain has built up here in Catalina in the pre-sunrise hours today, adding to the month’s total that has been received so far, also a trace.

Wow! This was not foreseen, these little sprinkles.  Latest NWS forecast for Catalina is “sunny”, no mention of clouds or sprinkles.  CMP, too.  Wasn’t  thinking that the  little stream of moisture passing over us would amount to anything but Ac clouds.  See U of AZ satellite imagery here to see stream; not a “river”, maybe just a “creek.”

5:31 AM:  Moving ahead! Looks like we’re at the end of the sprinkle clouds, don’t see much upwind.  BTW, could you see the clouds that produced the sprinkle?  Not as easy as you think.  You see, the wind is stronger, much stronger where those clouds are up there, and the rain that falls out trails behind them.  So you have to look downwind a mile or two to see the clouds what done it! (ANOTHER few drops here at 5:37 AM!)  Three sprinkles now! Those drops must be like HUGE water balloons to those ants out there on the pavement!

Here’s what those sprinkle clouds look like, the ones you missed while you were snoozing, but, as usual CMP is there for you:

5:37 AM. Its raining.
5:37 AM. Its raining on the camera.  See ice coming out, upper center, slightly to the left?  That’s what done the last few drops.  But now the cloud that done it is a couple of miles downwind.  The earlier sprinkle-causer, is the cloud now beyond Charouleau Gap to the NE.

 

This morning's Tucson balloon sounding. Shows bases at 600 mb (14,00 feet above sea level), tops at 20,000 feet, and about -15 C, cold enough for plenty of ice.
This morning’s Tucson balloon sounding. Shows bases at 600 mb (14,00 feet above sea level), tops at 20,000 feet, and about -15 C, cold enough for plenty of ice.

Below, the same sounding without arrows:

This morning's Tucson balloon sounding. Shows bases at 600 mb (14,00 feet above sea level), tops at 20,000 feet, and about -15 C, cold enough for plenty of ice.

End of rain chances now, darn, looking at withering clouds. (Last sprinkle, hardly noticeably unless you were outside, 7:20 AM, from an remarkably small cloud, ice not really apparent).

(Interrupted by having to get a flat fixed; Philips head screw in it.)

Yesterday’s clouds

Yesterday was a great day to once again test your ice acumen.  Here are examples of only those clouds exhibiting ice except that fat Cu over Pusch Ridge, a pic I took during BP2 at James Kreigh Park with ballplaying friend, Patrick.

6:54 AM. Altocumulus. How's your ice acumen? Never forget how important ice acumen is!
6:54 AM. Altocumulus. How’s your ice acumen? Never forget how important ice acumen is!  Estimate concentrations and cloud top temperature.

 

1:10 PM. New kind of cloud. Test your ice acumen: Is ice being produced in these clouds? Never forget how important your ice acumen is, repeated in case you skipped over the last caption.
1:10 PM. New kind of cloud. Test your ice acumen: Any sign that ice is ice being produced in these clouds? Never forget how important your ice acumen is, repeated in case you skipped over the last caption!

 

1:56 PM. If you can find the ice here, you will be awarded an honorary doctorate in cloud mavenness.
1:56 PM. If you can find the ice here, you will be awarded an honorary doctorate in cloud maven-ness.

 

2:36 PM, 101 F, at James Kriegh Park, next to CDO HS, this fat little Cu over Pusch Ridge.
2:36 PM, 101 F, at James Kriegh Park, next to CDO HS, this fat little Cu mediocris over Pusch Ridge, as batting practice gets underway.  Batting for CMP was “mediocris.”  Lefty Patrick hits the ball over those trees from time to time.  (This is baseball, not softy ball, we’re talkin’ ’bout.)

 

Seems U of AZ mod sees this little moist street over us as able to generate Cumulus and isolated  small Cumulonimbus clouds this afternoon.  Very nice.

The End.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1Where would Yahoo be today without that “!”?

2It was 101 F during our 2 h session that began at 2:30 PM.  Note to baseball people: the ball goes farther when you hit it when the air is less dense.  The air is LESS dense when it is HOT, AND when their is moisture in the air (unless the baseball you’re using is hygroscopic, in which case it might absorb water vapor and get that bit heavier and not go as far.  So, its great to practice when its above 100 F!

Author: Art Rangno

Retiree from a group specializing in airborne measurements of clouds and aerosols at the University of Washington (Cloud and Aerosol Research Group). The projects in which I participated were in many countries; from the Arctic to Brazil, from the Marshall Islands to South Africa.