I love it when the sky does this.

These pretty clouds won’t rain … yet.  They drift by in thin shields with gaps between and when they thicken they look like buttermilk (click here to see).

These are altocumulus clouds that form in the mid-level of the cloud deck, between 6,500 and 20,000 feet.  Their thicker version is called a mackerel sky because the effect resembles the scales on a king mackerel.

Weather sayings confuse me about the message these clouds are bringing.  One poem says, “Mackerel sky, mackerel sky – never long wet, never long dry.”   Worst case:  These are overtaken six to eight hours later by different clouds that bring rain.

On the day I took this photo I was outdoors for six hours and yes, these happy clouds were followed by thick, potential rain clouds.

But it didn’t rain until I got home.

(photo by Kate St. John)