Well, these photos don't really do them justice, but there were some interesting clouds overhead as I was leaving work tonight (31 January 2023). Long, tight, parallel strands running across the sky. (That's the moon in the corner.)
Pretty cool! (Literally, perhaps?)
5 comments:
Nice. fibratus I believe.
We noticed this yesterday afternoon, too, as we were driving north-west from Petaluma to Sebastopol. It was lovely to see!
Hello!
Thanks! I was wondering if they were fibratus clouds, but I'm not an experienced cloud identifier. Any feedback is welcome!
Best,
Jackie
Here's the response from my friend Jane Carpenter, who is a cloud aficionado and expert:
"In 1802, Luke Howard invented the language used to describe clouds, in Latin terms that adhered to taxonomy conventions already in use. Before Howard, clouds were described by whatever words the observer fancied - fuzzy, puffy, white, gray - with no consistency or usefulness.
Howard classified clouds into 4 families, 10 genera, 14 species and 9 varieties, with a further 9 accessories, and he used Latin, the language of Science. Meteorology was born.
Your clouds here are of the High family, Cirrostratus genera, Fibratus species. If they are formed perpendicular to the winds aloft, they are of the vertebratus variety. So, Cirrostratus fibratus vertebratum. Or maybe Cirrostratus fibratus undulatus. It's hard to tell." 😉
And then Jane quotes Shakespeare: (See why she's my friend?)
"Sometimes we see a cloud that's dragonish,
A vapour sometime like a bear or lion,
A towered citadel, a pendent rock,
A forked mountain, or blue promontory
With trees upon't that nod unto the world
And mock our eyes with air.
[Antony & Cleopatra, Act 4, scene 15]"
Alice (and Jane)!
So helpful to learn more about the history of cloud naming...and the Shakespeare quote is amazing. So much to absorb from that! Dragonish! A blue promontory! Mocking our eyes with air. Such a tribute to clouds and sky.
Thank you!
Jackie
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