Altocumulus Lenticularis

Taken towards the end of  warm and sunny mid-April afternoon, this cloud picture shows and interesting batch of elongated, smooth-looking clouds which I tentatively believe to be Altocumulus Lenticularis, although, as always, I could be wrong about that.

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Nestling amongst the ever-present contrails, and lit by the late afternoon sun, these striking clouds caught my attention as I popped into my local supermarket. I don't recall ever having spotted any lenticular clouds before, certainly not in such a prominent position, and I couldn't resist capturing them for posterity before grabbing my groceries.

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Contrail Collection

A warm, sunny afternoon in late April, a clear blue sky, and a whole bunch of contrails. As I've said before, it's sometimes difficult to grasp just how much air traffic passes over a major city in even a short space of time, but, on a calm, clear day, the evidence speaks for itself.

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This picture of contrails covers just a small portion of the sky and a short period of time, and yet a significant proportion of the sky is obscured by fuzzy white trials. It's long been suggested that abundant contrails may, cumulatively, be sufficient to have an adverse effect on surface temperatures, as the article "Clouds Caused By Aircraft Exhaust May Warm The U.S. Climate" (Science Daily, April 28, 2004) points out.

I'm not qualified to know whether there's any truth in such theories, but it's difficult to ignore the sheer number of contrails drifting overhead, day and night!

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Contrail

Taken one afternoon last weekend, this sky picture features a curving contrail set against the brilliant blue background of a clear spring sky.

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Brilliantly lit by the afternoon sun, the contrail seems almost to glow as the aircraft changes course on its way to who-knows-where. So striking were the components in this image that the dramatic double chalk line of the contrail caught my immediately as I rounded a building. Fortunately, I was out and about snapping pics for another blog, so I had my camera to hand, and it was but the work of a moment to record this picture of the sky for posterity.

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Dusk Contrails

I snapped this picture of the sky a couple of days ago, some time after sunset. I was on my way to the local supermarket when the striking combination of high altitude clouds, contrails and deep blue evening sky caught my eye.

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Naturally, I had to pull over and dig out the camera - trying to take photographs of clouds while driving is probably even more frowned upon than using the phone, and the resulting cloud images probably wouldn't be all that good, either.

This, then, together with my haste to capture the upper right contrail before the aircraft sped out of sight, is my excuse for the slightly skewed angle at which this photo appears to have been taken - must try harder next time I thrust my camera out of the car window!

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Contrail Dawn

Today's post probably doesn't qualify as a sunrise picture since it was taken a little while before sunrise on a March morning in very early spring - note the outlines of new leaf buds on the silhouetted tree branches at the top of the picture.

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The red light in the distant clouds shades gently to pink and then up to a delicate blue above the distant trees, contrasting nicely with the silvery chalk-mark of an early morning contrail heading into the new day. Even without the sun itself, the returning daylight paints a striking picture of light sky and dark outlines that caught my eye while I was waiting for the main event (sunrise).

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Sunset

Today's sunset picture almost didn't happen at all. The sky has been a relatively monotonous and uninspiring dull grey for a couple of days, and, according to the weather forecast, that wasn't about to change before tomorrow. The break in the clouds that showed up at sunset this afternoon was, therefore, unexpected, and, had I not been out and about snapping pics for another blog, I wouldn't have been in a position to capture this rather pretty sunset photo.

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The sun had already sunk beneath the horizon-hugging clouds, illuminating the smaller, flimsy-looking clouds (and the remains of several contrails) from below with a golden light. The light show, and the delicate clouds, made a brilliant end to an otherwise dreary day.

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Contrails Y

More contrails in today's sky picture, this time crossing in a Y shaped formation that reminds me of graffiti scrawled onto the natural artwork displayed on the sky's infinite canvas. Not that I have anything against contrails as such - they're capable of forming strikingly beautiful patterns in their own right.

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But, in this case, the contrails serve only to detract from the delicate cloud formation that was going to be today's picture of clouds in the sky. Ah well, better luck tomorrow!

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Contrails and Clouds

Taken just before sunset on a cold, clear February afternoon, this sky picture shows just how busy the skies around a reasonably large city can be. Contrails from a raft of aircraft criss cross the clear blue sky, forging long, straight vapour trail causeways between the randomly fuzzy natural clouds.

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I always find contrail pictures to be both fascinating and a little disturbing, in that they make a natural recording of how many aircraft are, or have recently been, vying for space in the skies above us. The potential for accidents in such a crowded space is an obvious cause for concern, yet the rarity of mid-air collisions is an impressive testament to the skills of air traffic controllers and pilots everywhere.

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White Cloud Mountain

Something a little less dramatic than yesterday's sunrise photo for today's post. Instead of blazing golden fire, we have a towering heap of white cotton wool floating in a bright blue sky. Pictures of clouds may not appeal to everyone, but I find the delicate, wispy, ever-changing edges of their structure both fascinating and beautiful.

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As if in contrast to the size of this natural visual extravaganza, the contrail (and associated aircraft) at the top of the image seem almost puny by comparison, dwarfed by the billowing vapour of the clouds.

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Winter Sunset

This rather lurid sunset picture was taken on a cold February afternoon. The day had been gloomy and overcast, the sky offering little more than the promise of a good soaking until late afternoon. Suddenly, as the sun dropped towards the horizon, the rather monotonous, dull rain clouds rolled away to reveal a deep blue sky and these high altitude wisps of pink and yellow fire licking at the ever-present contrails.

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It just goes to show that the sky is a source of infinite variety, capable of producing the most amazing displays at a moment's notice.

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