50 actual shades of gray

Huh,  Sounds familiar.  Well, 50 shades of gray is a theme here at cloud-maven.com.  Those various shades brought 0.02 inches of rain this morning to The Heights.  Here are yesterday’s 50 shades: This Altostratus invasion covered the sky within about 15 minutes, and that was it for sun, except some “filtered sun” at times (when… Continue reading 50 actual shades of gray

Altocumulus in transition; water to ice

I was thinking how great yesterday was for you.  Started out with a spectacular sunrise (lasted just a couple of minutes), and then you could watch for pretty much the WHOLE day, orographically-formed Altocumulus opacus and castellanus transition to ice crystal clouds (in this case, Altostratus with virga and some mammatus) right before your eyes!… Continue reading Altocumulus in transition; water to ice

Icy clouds blot afternoon sun in Catalina for seventh day in a row! How weird is that?

Well, on some days, there were Altocumulus clouds, too, helping to blot the sun.  Altocumulus clouds are mostly or all liquid clouds, if you care, which I doubt.  But then you are here, wasting time on this web site about clouds, so maybe you do care! But, to conitnue the title’s theme, what a remarkable… Continue reading Icy clouds blot afternoon sun in Catalina for seventh day in a row! How weird is that?

A day dominated by cold Altocumulus punctuated by aircraft-produced hole punches and ice canals

Hope you saw them and recorded them in your cloud and weather diary.  I’m thinking that at the next Cloud Maven Junior meeting we should devote a lot of time to this issue.  It was a rare day yesterday that the WHOLE day had that phenomenon occurring as aircraft penetrated those clouds, usually on ascent… Continue reading A day dominated by cold Altocumulus punctuated by aircraft-produced hole punches and ice canals

Some recent pretty clods

Been busy as a briefly unretired science worker (gave a stressful talk at a university last week) and thought maybe a lot of usual drop ins to this site might not anymore.   So, in the title for today,  am reaching out to a new demographic: persons interested in congealed soil matter.  They might later, after… Continue reading Some recent pretty clods

‘Nuf said

Now, that’s pretty funny.  We specialize here in too much said! Its a niche thing.  Of course, not enough can be said about our past July. Take a look: This, of course, was a new July rainfall record for Catalina/Sutherland Heights going back to 1977, anyway.  Had to adjust vertical axis of this chart, too. … Continue reading ‘Nuf said

Sunset was pretty good; raindrops tomorrow morning? In nine days as well?

Haven’t had much to say, brain pretty empty again after the big review of the NAS 2003 review which really needed reviewing and commenting on real bad…. (More “late homework” in the offing.) ———————- Nice sunset last night; we have had a series of pretty nice ones over the past few days. From IPS MeteoStar,… Continue reading Sunset was pretty good; raindrops tomorrow morning? In nine days as well?

Thunderblasts after midnight awaken sleeping Catalinans with 50 mph winds, graupel, and R++; latest storm total now 1.38 inches!

In case you don’t believe me that over an inch fell, this digital record from Sutherland Heights with writing on it: Probably a little more to come, too.  Got some blow damage, I’m sure.  Will be looking for roof shingles around the yard today. And, as everyone knows from their favorite TEEVEE weatherperson, “New Storm… Continue reading Thunderblasts after midnight awaken sleeping Catalinans with 50 mph winds, graupel, and R++; latest storm total now 1.38 inches!

“Deception at its finest”….a study in cloud perspective

I am sure that many of you saw this last evening: While I hate to embarrass cloud acolytes, here’s the simultaneous satellite view, courtesy of our Banner University of Arizona Weather Department: As Einstein wrote, “Things are not always as they seem.” Q. E. D. Now, for the snow report …from the Lake Tahoe area… Continue reading “Deception at its finest”….a study in cloud perspective

Altostratus opacus virgae transitions to Altocumulus during day! Storms to bring rain!

What a day for cloud maven juniors and me, too, watching the Altostratus opacus (but sometimes “translucidus” cuz you could see where the sun was) become Altocumulus!  It happens pretty often and is the result of lowering, and warming of the cloud tops, but I need to generate some excitement on an otherwise somewhat dull… Continue reading Altostratus opacus virgae transitions to Altocumulus during day! Storms to bring rain!