Forecasting the Weather 2: Clouds
Hello lighthouse keepers, sailors, fishermen, and even pirates! I recently made a post about predicting the weather while at sea. I mentioned in the post that clouds can also help predict the weather, but didn’t include them for brevity, but I did say I’d make that post another day. Well, today is that day! Consider this your guide for using clouds to anticipate the storms before they happen. (Pictures correlate with the word above them)
Fair Weather Clouds
Cirrus (see-ruhs) clouds are thin and wispy due to the wind blowing them around the sky. They look like this:
Cirrocumulus (see-ruh-kyoo-myuh-luhs) clouds are thin, patchy, and generally rippled or poofy. They generally come out in the winter. They look like this:
Altocumulus (al-tow-kyoo-myuh-luhs) clouds are rippled, fluffy and layered, the layers ranging from white to greyish. They look like this:
Cumulus (kyoo-myuh-luhs) clouds are what you think of when you think of clouds. They’re big, puffy, and come in lots of different shapes.
Stratus (stra-tus) clouds are thin and sheet-like, and always white and will generally cover most if not all of the sky.
Stratocumulus (stra-tow-kyoo-myuh-luhs) congregate in honeycomb-esque shapes, and they are patchy white or gray in color. Though these are fair weather clouds, they can indicate a storm is on its way.
Rain Clouds
Cirrostratus (see-row-stra-tuhs, sur-row-stra-tuhs) clouds also cover the sky, and can cause the halo-ing effect that was mentioned in part 1 of this post. Rain is probable within the next day.
Altostratus (al-tow-stra-tuhs) clouds are grey, cover the sky, and mean continuous rain.
Nimbostratus (nim-bow-stra-tuhs) clouds are big, puffy, gray, and thick. They’re often so thick they can obscure the sun. These also indicate continuous rain.
Cumulonimbus (Kyoo-myu-low-nim-bus) clouds are high, towered, puffy and white. They indicate upcoming thunderstorms and are generally accompanied by other cumulus clouds.
Sorry for such a long post but the pictures were necessary! Hope this second part is a good supplement to part one! Have fun keeping your eyes on the skys!