Cumulonimbus clouds, Cumulus clouds, Definitions

Tracey day

Two maybe three sprinkles occurred in the early afternoon between 1:30 and 2:40 PM for a total accumulation of “trace.”  The first from our very own Catalina cloud street off Ms. Lemon.  Here it is in mid-afternoon when it was was still right over us, but the clouds in it not tall enough, as earlier, to have something in them that causes precipitation to fall out.   (What is it? Hint:  Think of the Beatles’ anthem about something that is, “all you need1.”)

3:11 PM.  Cloud street off Ms. Lemon Mt.
3:11 PM. Landscape version to show how isolated this cloud street was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bubble Cu drifts away, later becoming a “quarter pounder”… Watch the sequence below.

3:40 PM. Clouds still streaming in shallow line off Ms. Lemon.  But take a look at the oval base left of the line.  Its going to do something, be productive as we all should be.
3:51 PM.  I think I will keep an eye on this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3:51 PM. Cumulus congestus now, top clearly sprouting, will reach the height where something forms and causes fallout.
4:06 PM.  After a skit by Damon Wayans et al from
“In Living Color,” sung at ball parks, “Bloop, der it is!” Something is evident in the top that now means rain will fall!  This cloud is becoming a…Cumulonimbus!
4:06 PM. Checking out the bottom…precipitation begins to emerge. Can you see it in the patch of clear sky at right? Can you see it streaming down, upper right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4:17 PM. Our little cloud is becoming “quarter pounder” Cb, just enough of a Cumulonimbus to drop a quarter of an inch in the absolute heaviest core on some unsuspecting soul who wasn’t watching.
4:19 PM. Coming out fast, reaching peak productivity right here, right near Pusch Ridge and Oracle Road.
4:23 PM. Only FOUR minutes later and its just about all over. This cloud will drift off and just be a hardly noticeable remnant in a few more minutes after its little dump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, what did we get out of this sequence?

Even small clouds, really modest ones at the start, can boil upward and produce a useful amount of rain, albeit in a short-lived life.  Between the time it began to rain from this cloud and the end of it from this little cloud was barely more than six minutes, maybe ten.  But don’t overlook them; they can still get you wet.

And with that happy ending, let me leave you with this happy ending to our day; yesterday’s sunset Cumulonimbus cloud, and the thought of more of them today!  (The weather service says so…here.)

 

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