Clouds of the Day - Wednesday, May 31, 2023
/The Clouds of the Day today are courtesy of a weak upper level system that as shown up as a patch of Cirrus, Cirrostratus, Altostratus, and Altocumulus which is shown on the two images below. There are several areas of Cumulus/Cumulonimbus (showers and thundershowers) over the Upper Midwest this morning near the Iowa Minnesota border, in the Dakotas, and over Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois
IMage courtesy of NOAA/NESDIS/STAR. Find more images using the link to GOES Satellite images on the Weather Briefing home page. The text added to the photo is by Weather Briefing, LC.
Nationally there are showers and thundershowers over the Southern Plains back to the crest of the Southern Rockies and also over the southeastern U.S. and along the East Coast and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
IMage courtesy of NOAA/NESDIS/STAR. Find more images using the link to GOES Satellite images on the Weather Briefing home page.
Identifying clouds can be a bit tricky because while we like to categorize clouds into specific groups, they don’t always behave that way. The first photo below shows clouds that look like Cirrus and Altostratus. I categorize these clouds as Cirrostratus because they do not completely hide the Sun’s disk - but it’s close. You can see thicker portions of these clouds that might hide the Sun but so far that has not been the case. So, all things considered at least parts of these clouds could be labeled Altostratus. They would be on the high side of the middle layer of the atmosphere in a region where we can find both Cirrus and Altostratus.
Photo by Craig Johnson 5-31-2023.Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.
The next two photos show Virga (precipitation aloft not reaching the ground) which are also called Fall Streaks. They are ice crystals falling from Cirrus. When overhead they can be hard to see but with the benefit of the side view we see them for what they are.
Photo by Craig Johnson 5-31-2023.Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.
Photo by Craig Johnson 5-31-2023.Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.
Below is an interesting formation. This view is looking southeast. Cirrus dominates the lower half of the photo but the thicker cloud layer in the top half has the characteristics of a dissipating anvil from an old thundershower.
The regional satellite image at the top of this post shows this dense cloud to have a similar shape to the top of a thundershower. Without continuity it is difficult to say what it is but the shape is recognizable. The atmosphere is well organized even though it may sometimes seem chaotic. Many cloud shapes appear at different heights and sizes because the overall system is orderly. Many features that occur in the small scale are also evident in the large global scale. For example, rotating thunderstorms have similar characteristics to larger low pressure systems. These storms may appear to be random but they are not.
Photo by Craig Johnson 5-31-2023.Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.
