Clouds of the Day - Tuesday, May 16, 2023 - Meet the Delicate Cirrus!

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Cirrus create beautiful patterns in the sky. From wispy filaments to broad milky sheets, the ice crystals in Cirrus are shaped by high altitude winds blowing above 16,500 feet. The examples below are true to their name - Cirrus. It means wispy or hair-like.

Stare at these Cirrus. The longer you look the more details you see. There are at least five CONTRAILS (Condensation Trails) from passing aircraft in the photo above. You might find more.

More hair-like clouds and CONTRAILS in the photo above. Cirrocumulus are also visible.

Cirrus are precipitating clouds. Streamers of ice crystals fall easily in the cold air where Cirrus reside. Check out the clouds above.

The clouds below do not show off streamers of ice crystals but impressed on the flow are waves made visible by the Cirrus. Without the clouds we would not know there are waves overhead. Are you able to find the waves? They are called Gravity Waves.

Way in the distance are ice crystal streamers falling from a patch of Cirrus floccus. Floccus is what we think of when we see clumps of wool. The clumps of called flocks of wool. Each strand of wool has a natural curve. Those curves produce the clumps of wool we call flocks. Cirrus sometimes remind us of flocks of wool as we see in the photo below. There are other examples on this blog of more pronounced flocks of wool.