01/08/2025
🌥️ GOOD MORNING, CLOUD SPOTTERS! ☕🐾
Get ready to have your heads in the clouds, quite literally, because we’ve got a stunning sky show for you today all the way from Brisbane, Australia! 📸
Captured by the very talented Shelly Morcombe, feast your eyes on this incredible image of Altocumulus undulatus clouds rippling like waves across the morning sky. It’s like the atmosphere is flexing its creative muscles! 😍
Now, you may be wondering...
☁️ What are Altocumulus Clouds?
Altocumulus (from the Latin altum = height, and cumulus = heap) are mid-level clouds that float around 7,000 to 18,000 feet above our heads. They’re made up of a mix of supercooled water droplets and ice crystals, giving them a soft, almost pearly appearance.
They often look like bands, patches, or individual puffy cloudlets, like sky popcorn scattered across the blue!
They’re usually white or grey and can be shaded on one side, especially when the sun’s at a lower angle. And while they look like they might bring rain... they rarely do! If you do spot any precipitation, it’s most likely virga, rain that evaporates before it hits the ground (Mother Nature's version of a tease).
🌬️ How Do These Beauties Form?
There are a few ways Altocumulus clouds can take shape:
The breakup of altostratus cloud layers
Turbulence that lifts moist air in small pockets
Or even mountain waves creating stunning ripples in the sky (perfect for undulatus formations like this one!)
They can also form as a precursor to storms, especially if you spot the castellanus type, which looks a bit more vertical and “tower-like.”
🔍 Spotting the Types (Yes, There’s More Than One!):
Altocumulus are one of the most varied cloud families, and if you’re a cloud geek like us, here are a few exciting members of the crew:
☁️ Altocumulus stratiformis, The “classic” patchwork puffs, often flat-bottomed.
☁️ Altocumulus lenticularis, those dramatic UFO-shaped clouds that hover over hills and mountains.
☁️ Altocumulus castellanus, Pile up like cloud turrets; a warning that storms could follow later.
☁️ Altocumulus floccus, Raggedy puffballs with tiny tails of virga dangling beneath.
You might even spot something called a fallstreak hole, like someone’s punched a hole right through the sky with a giant invisible fist! 🕳️
🌤️ So, What Do They Mean for the Weather?
Usually, altocumulus clouds appear during settled weather, especially in the early morning. They’re often a sign that things are calm, for now.
BUT... if you notice them thickening, or forming into castellanus clouds during a warm, humid morning, they can signal a potential shift, possibly even thunderstorms later in the day.
They’re also a firm favourite of skywatchers and photographers. Especially when they light up at sunrise or sunset in pinks, golds, and purples. Magic! 🌅
🐾✨ And Finally... The Weather Cats Have Spoken!
This morning, Smudge the Weather Cat was spotted perched on the windowsill, eyes glued to the sky, tail twitching with fascination at the rolling formations above.
Meanwhile, Guss (our ginger chaos agent) was having none of it and decided to curl up on top of the printer instead, clearly unimpressed by cloud science unless it involves food
According to Smudge:
"If it looks like a sky full of cotton wool, nap until tea time. If it starts going grey... demand food before the thunder comes."
Wise words from a feline forecaster. 😹
📸 Huge thanks again to Shelly Morcombe for the amazing cloud capture!
☁️👀
Kind regards,
KWT Dave & The Cloud-Watching Cats
