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Thursday, October 9, 2008

10.9- Skywatch Friday - Mixed sky

A mix of clouds fills the western sky over Green Creek
(Click on picture or here for full size)

Inspired by Dewdrop's recent Cloud Lessons on the Skywatch Friday site, I have been trying to learn my clouds, and taking a lot of pictures of clouds so I can study and compare them with pictures and descriptions in weather books and on-line.

As Dewdrop rightly pointed out, a sailor should know clouds, so I am slowly working through "Weather for the Mariner," by William J. Kotsch, Rear Admiral USN (Ret.), and refering to a couple of other weather-for-sailors books I have access to... unfortunately, they are all a bit dated, featuring black & white photos and lots of information on a (I assume) now moribund network of "telefacsimile"-transmitted isobar maps that seems to have been on the cutting edge of weather info sometime in the ancient past.

Today's main picture features a mixed sky, which I think includes cirrostratus, cirrus, altocumulus and/or cirrocululus (I can't quite tell the difference between those two), a tad of fractostratus, and some condensation trails.



I think... The hardest part for me right now is determining the altitude of the clouds I see, both in absolute terms and in relation to other clouds. I am hoping it is just a matter of looking at the skies a bit more (SWF has prompted me to do that) and to patiently do my homework on clouds and weather systems (as noted earlier, Dewdrop has inspired me to do that.)



I am still using the books to decode todays pictures, (taken yesterday), and am watching the shifting fronts and pressure systems on NOAA and WeatherUnderground to get a sense of why the sky filled with so many different types of clouds yesterday after several days of pure blue sky.



I would love to hear comments from the SWF community about the types of clouds in today's pictures.

Here are a few more cloud pictures, also taken yesterday:

#2) More mixed clouds, this time facing East over the Neuse River:





#3) Altocumulus or Cirrocumulus ??? (facing just north of west):





#4) Straight above... condensation trail becoming cirrus ???


I look forward to seeing the other Skywatch pictures from around the world on the other SWF sites listed at:

-30-

17 comments:

Tanya Breese said...

Great skies and clouds! Happy skywatch!

Anonymous said...

The last one is perfection! amazing sets of photos here:) My SWF is posted HERE. Have a great day!~

EG CameraGirl said...

The clouds in the top photo look kind of mystical to me.
Happy Sky Watch!

Guy D said...

Beautiful SWF pics. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers

http://reginainpictures.blogspot.com/

Gill - That British Woman said...

what a great mix of clouds, super photos.....

Gill in Canada

Michele said...

It's fun to learn about the weather and clouds and you definitely have some beautiful skies above you... wonderful photos!!

Have a great weekend!
~Michele~
Mountain Retreat

Hope said...

beautiful photos...I'm glad I stopped by your blog!

Unknown said...

Very nice! Thank you. Happy SWF.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Capt. Ben: You need Cloud Stalker and Dewdrop to help you with names. Drop them a note on their site and ask for help.
The only help I can give is to say it's a great SWF post.

Arija said...

Lovely skies, but that last one with the whalebone stretches across the sky takes the cake!

Anonymous said...

Wow, those are spectacular cloud shots. Congratulations!

Mary said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary said...

Stuuuuunnnnnning!!!

Rob Ripma said...

Great clound shots!

Dirkjogt said...

Don't know the names but all great cloud picture. Lovely!

Jane Hards Photography said...

You've learnt well. These are awseome images.

Anonymous said...

Wow - you're a good student! Your cloud captures are great. Very nicely done. Dew should be proud!