Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all
|
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate.Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well. |
Clouds are visible masses of liquid droplets or icey particulates of various chemical compositions (on Earth they are mostly water) which exist in a planet's atmosphere. The study of Earth's clouds is a field in meteorology called nephology from the Greek word for cloud nephos (νέφος).
Clouds can show convective development like cumulus, appear in layered sheets such as stratus, or take the form of thin fibrous wisps, as in the case of cirrus. Prefixes are used in connection with clouds: strato for low cumuliform-category clouds that show some stratiform characteristics, nimbo for thick stratiform clouds that can produce moderate to heavy precipitation, alto for middle clouds, and cirro for high clouds. Wiki
|
Everyone studies clouds, perhaps not scientifically but certainly esthetically. I don't think it is humanly possible not to be inspired by the wonder and awe that clouds invoke. I'll bet that even Republicans enjoy the delicate puffs of cotton cumuli. They've certainly learned the bluster and blow of the mighty cumulonimbus.
A beautiful example of that awe and wonder is showcased in Murray Fredericks' video for the Hector Thunderstorm Project where we can watch cumulus clouds spark off before the thunderstorm sparks off its thunder and lightening over the Arafura sea north of Australia. Fascinating...
Hector Thunderstorm Project by Murray Fredericks
|
Luke Howard
I'll take it as given that I'm not the only one who finds clouds fascinating though certainly not as much as the 19th century London pharmacist Luke Howard. Mr. Howard, a member of the Askesian Society, preferred to write a paper rather than pay a fine and being a well read sort of fellow leveraged his classical education in Latin and the new classification system of Linneaus (Carl von Linne) into a taxonomy of clouds. His essay On the Modification of Clouds presented in 1803 was, however, not the first attempt to classify clouds.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
In a rare in- stance the first person to categorize the phenomena didn't have it adopted by the scientific community. In 1802 Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de la Marck published a system of cloud types in his paper entitled "On Cloud Forms". The World Meteorological Organization's outlined the possible reasons that the otherwise remarkable Lamarck's method were less than enthusiastically received in the preface of their 1939 International Cloud Atlas...
|
Cumulus humilis clouds in the foreground and cumulonimbus clouds in the back, taken at Swifts Creek, in the Great Alps of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.1
It is, perhaps, a good thing that Jean-Baptiste's taxonomy was rejected. His names, such as en forme de voile or en balayeurs (Hazy clouds or Broom-like clouds)2, were a bit, shall we say, colloquial so the classical Latin system that Howard devised, being universally understandable across polyglot Europe, became the standard.
Luke Howard, a methodical observer who had a strong grounding in the Latin language, used his background to categorize the various tropospheric cloud types and forms during December 1802. He believed that the changing cloud forms in the sky could unlock the key to weather forecasting. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck worked independently on cloud categorization. Even though their naming schemes were different, Howard's won out as Lamarck's did not even make an impression in his home country of France as it used unusual French names for cloud types, whereas Howard used universally accepted Latin. Howard's naming scheme caught on quickly. As a sign of the popularity of the naming scheme, the German dramatist and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe composed four poems about clouds, dedicating them to Howard. Later classification systems would be proposed by Heinrich Dove of Germany in 1828 and Elias Loomis of the United States in 1841, but neither became the international standard that Howard's system became. It was formally adopted by the International Meteorological Commission in 1929.3
|
|
Howard initially defined three categories of clouds: cumulus, stratus, and cirrus. He also recognized the mutability of clouds (something Lamarck didn't entertain) and allowed for compound forms such as cirrostratus and stratocumulus as well as nimbus (suffix) or nimbo (prefix) to indicate clouds producing precipitation. For example, cumulonimbus. As with many categorical systems it has evolved over the years. New terms have been added, for example, the term altus (alto) was added to describe mid-level clouds. Currently, the compound terms used to describe clouds are shown below.
Compound Root Names for Clouds and Their Meanings
Latin Root |
|
Translation |
|
Example4 |
cumulus
stratus
cirrus
altum
nimbus |
|
heap
layer
curl of hair
height, upper air
rain |
|
fair weather cumulus
altostratus
cirrus
altocumulus
cumulonimbus |
|
There are 10 types or genera of clouds.
Name |
Example
|
Level in Atmosphere
Description |
|
|
High
Cirrus clouds—Detached clouds in the form of white, delicate filaments or white or mostly white patches or narrow bands. These clouds have a fibrous appearance, or a silky sheen, or both.5
|
|
|
High
Cirrostratus clouds are thin uniform clouds that usually form above 5.5 kilometers. These types of clouds can form halos (picture left). Cirrostratus clouds can be distinguished from Cirrus by the fact that it occurs in the form of a veil which is usually of great horizontal extent.6
|
Cirro-
cumulus
|
|
High
Cirrocumulus clouds usually occur at an altitude of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to 12 kilometres (7.5 mi). Like other cumulus clouds, cirrocumulus clouds signify convection. Unlike other cirrus clouds, cirrocumulus include a small amount of supercooled liquid water droplets, Ice crystals are the predominant compo- nent, and typically, the ice crystals cause the supercooled water drops in the cloud to rapidly freeze, transforming the cirro- cumulus into cirrostratus.7
|
Alto-
stratus
|
|
Mid
Altostratus refers to middle level cloud that appears as a flat, smooth dark grey sheet. These clouds are most often observed as large sheets rather than isolated areas. However, in the process of development, altostratus may develop in smaller filaments and rapidly develop to larger sheets. These types of clouds in certain conditions normally indicate an approaching cloud mass associated with a cold front, a trough system or a jet stream.8
|
Alto-
cumulus
|
|
Mid
This is a mid-level cloud (with bases between 6,500 and 23,000ft in middle latitude regions), which is typically a layer of joined or separated u2018cloudletsu2019. Altocumulus is one of the most dramatic and variable of the ten main cloud types, showing more possible species and varieties than any other.9
|
Cumulus
|
|
Mid
Cumulus clouds are a type of cloud with noticeable vertical development and clearly defined edges. Cumulus means "heap" or "pile" in Latin. They are often described as "puffy" or "cotton-like" in appearance. Cumulus clouds may appear alone, in lines, or in clusters. Cumulus clouds are often precursors of other types of clouds, such as cumulonimbus, when influenced by weather factors such as instability, moisture, and temperature gradient. Cumulus clouds are part of the larger category of cumuliform clouds, which include cumulus, cumulus congestus, and cumulonimbus clouds, among others.[1] The most intense cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds may be associated with severe weather phenomena such as hail, waterspouts and tornadoes.
|
|
Now you really know 'bout clouds and all. Thanks for stopping by the kitchen.
palantir
5:53 PM PT: I want to thank you all for your very kind remarks. I am quite pleased that you all enjoyed this diary.