Clouds of the Day - CONTRAIL - March 27, 2023

This photo of sunset shows the unusual path of an aircraft. The “man made” cloud formed as the contrail gradually spread out along the path of water vapor that exited the engines. The cold upper level air condensed the water vapor into this cloud that likely contains both ice crystals and cloud droplets. Look closely below the base of the top curved portion of the CONTRAIL. Streamers of ice crystals are visible trailing the cloud.