Know Your Clouds E-Book

Tim Harris

• Herausgeber: Old Pond Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 46

Beschreibung

Do you know which types of clouds signal severe weather? Or have you ever wondered how clouds form in the first place? Discover tons of fascinating information about different cloud families, unique cloud characteristics, optical phenomena – from rainbows to light crystals. Filled with beautiful photography and remarkable details about each cloud's composition, appearance, cause, and more, Know Your Clouds is a must-have pocket guide for readers of all ages and anyone who often looks up to the sky in wonder.

Leseprobe

Know Your Clouds

Old Pond Publishing is an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

Project Team

Consultant Publisher: Helen Brocklehurst

Editor: Sue Viccars

Designer: Emily Kingston

Copyright © 2020 by Tim Harris and Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Fox Chapel Publishers, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Print ISBN 978-1-913618-09-4eIBSN 978-1-913618-10-0

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Fox Chapel Publishing 903 Square Street Mount Joy, PA 17552

Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd. 3 The Bridle Way, Selsey, Chichester West Sussex PO20 0RS, U.K.

www.oldpond.com

Cover photo: Fair-weather cumulus on a summer afternoon

Photo on pages 2–3: Ominous yet benign, noctilucent clouds glow in the night sky over Lithuania

Contents

Foreword

The nature and naming of clouds

How clouds form

Cumulus family

1 Fair weather cumulus

2 Medium cumulus

3 Towering cumulus

4 Fire cloud

5 Cumulonimbus

6 Anvil cloud

7 Mammatus

Stratus family

8 Featureless stratus

9 Nimbostratus

Altocumulus family

10 Mackerel sky

11 Lens and pancake clouds

12 Castles in the sky

Altostratus family

Cirrus family

13 Fibrous cirrus

14 Mares’ tails

15 Wave clouds

Cirrocumulus family

16 Grains-of-rice sky

Cirrostratus family

17 Nebulosus and fibrous cirrostratus

18 Mother-of-pearl clouds

19 Noctilucent clouds

Optical phenomena

Rainbows

Coronas and rainbow fringes

Ice crystal light shows

Haloes

Arcs

Sun dogs and sun pillars

Acknowledgements

Picture Credits

Foreword

A massive cumulus congestus coloured by the evening light

Our ever-changing skyscapes are endlessly fascinating. Throughout history, clouds have inspired artists, poets, musicians, and photographers. In most parts of the world, at many times of the year, an array of clouds passes overhead. On calm days, they float gently by, while at other times gales sweep them across the sky at speed. Skyscapes can be calming, dramatic, dull, intriguing, or downright scary. Some have an ethereal beauty that is difficult to describe. Clouds can inform that the weather is likely to remain the same for the foreseeable future, or give clues that change is on its way—for better or for worse.

How you ever wondered how clouds form? Or why some types disappear, only to be replaced by others? Do you ever wish you could put a name to them? Whether your interest is simply in knowing their names, or if you’d like to be able to “read” the sky to forecast tomorrow’s weather, this book is for you. It describes the main cloud groups and some of the members that make up each “family”. And it explains the conditions responsible for each type. The book also takes a look at some of the fascinating optical phenomena associated with certain clouds.

Tim Harris, London, 2020

The nature and naming of clouds

A sunset-lit cumulus cloud over the Guatemalan coastline

Quite apart from their aesthetic value, human life would not exist were it not for clouds. They make all terrestrial life possible. Clouds are the freshwater delivery mechanism that transports water from the oceans to the land and makes possible the growth of plants and animals.

A cloud is a visible concentration of minute water droplets, ice particles, or a mixture of both, floating in the atmosphere. The vast majority of them are in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, which is called the troposphere. On average, each water droplet has a diameter of about 0.01 mm, but droplets may be much smaller or larger. There are hundreds in each cubic centimetre, millions in every cubic metre. Surface tension keeps them spherical, and currents keep them airborne. Because they are so small, the droplets can remain in liquid form at temperatures as low as -30°C. When still liquid at sub-zero temperatures, they are described as supercooled. At higher levels in the troposphere, clouds are made of ice crystals, which come in many shapes and sizes.

An English amateur meteorologist and artist called Luke Howard named the clouds in the early nineteenth century. He proposed three principle categories—cumulus, stratus, and cirrus—and their modifiers. There have been a few additions, but his names pretty much stuck. When trying to identify a cloud, the key pointers to look for are whether it is heaped (a type of cumulus), flat (a type of stratus), or wispy (a type of cirrus); how low its base is; and whether rain or snow is falling from it. Clouds are named from a combination of their appearance, altitude, and ability to produce precipitation. The names are derived from five Latin words: Alto – rain; Cirrus – curled; Cumulus – heaped; Nimbus – rain; Stratus – layered. Additionally, lenticularis is Latin for lens-shaped; mammatus means breast-shaped; and pyro means fire.

How clouds form

A “tablecloth” of orographic cloud sits on Cape Town’s Table Mountain