Clouds of the Day: Variety is the Spice of Life

On some days the sky puts on a show. The photos below chronicle the sky of today from 9:00 AM CDT to 7:15 PM. The day began with fog but by 9:00 AM the fog was evaporating, leaving a clear sky for most of the day. Then during the late afternoon an upper air disturbance triggered cumulus clouds and eventually one flash of lightning and a few sprinkles at 7:00 PM. Along the way a new unusual cloud type passed over our heads. Two photos of the new cloud type are included along with an explanation. Daylight ended with sunset and vivid red light bathing the western sky. Whew! Our weather was busy today. All photos taken by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, from our yard.

Fog evaporating into thin air. The day began with rather mundane weather - nothing special here. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

More remnants of morning fog just before the sky cleared. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

But then the action began. Late afternoon cumulus building nearly overhead. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Things began to get more interesting. Altocumulus cloud bases with a larger altocumulus building skyward visible above the cloud base. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

And then we were treated with one of the newest cloud types: Altocumulus asperatus cloud. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

As described by the Cloud Appreciation Society, which first proposed the cloud name, The cloud looks like the choppy surface of the ocean on a windy day. The name comes from the Latin word ‘aspero,’ which means to make rough. The word was used by Roman poets to describe the rough sea associated with a cold north wind.

Asperatus is a supplementary feature of Altocumulus and stratocumulus clouds. Altocumulus are mid-level cumulus clouds and stratocumulus are low level clouds. As a supplement the cloud would be either an altocumulus asperatus or a stratocumulus asperatus.

On June 20, 2006, Jane Wiggins took a picture of asperitas clouds from the window of a downtown office building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, She sent the photo to the Cloud Appreciation Society where in 2009 Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, began working with the Royal Meteorological Society to promote it as an entirely new cloud type. Added to the International Cloud Atlas as a supplementary feature in March 2017, it is the first cloud formation added since cirrus intortus in 1951.

Information for this description comes from the Cloud Appreciation Society webpage and also Wikipedia.

Altocumulus asperatus. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Cumulus congestus partially hidden just right of center above the lower cloud bases. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Crepuscular rays with altostratus and the dark bases of cumulus clouds. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Cumulus congestus rising above lower cumulus clouds. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

A chaotic sky with several types of mid-level clouds related to cumulus, altocumulus, and the asperatus clouds. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

A faint reddish glow illuminates low cumulus clouds while delicate mid-level altocumulus lacunosus clouds are visible against the blue sky. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

FINALLY, a dramatic Reddish glow near sunset. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

It all comes to an end. cumulus congestus with virga (raindrops evaporating before they reach the ground) in the foreground and higher white altostratus and altocumulus with virga (also called fall streaks) in the distant background. Photo copyright 2022 by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing, LC. Cedar Falls, Iowa.

All of these photos were taken today between 9:00 AM and 7:15 PM at Cedar Falls, Iowa.