A week ago, 7 Jan 2019, the National Weather Service said the sky was clear at Pittsburgh International Airport but I have proof that at that moment it was overcast in the East End.
Not only was it overcast but the clouds were doing something special near the Cathedral of Learning. See that wrinkle? Is that undulation? Or is it the beginning of an asperitas formation?
Asperitas clouds are newly named, the first formation to be added to the International Cloud Atlas in 66 years. They were proposed by the Cloud Appreciation Society in 2009 and accepted in 2017. The atlas goes back to 1896 so this is a big deal.
This video of asperitas clouds in Tenerife, featured by the Cloud Appreciation Society, shows how fascinating these clouds can be.
Thick clouds say “Pittsburgh in winter” all over them. Stratus (low) and altostratus (mid-level) are our specialty but we also have altocumulus undulatus, cumulus fractus and sometimes even mammatus. Click to see what they look like.
Yes, we have overcast skies (tell me about it!) but there are cool things above us if we just take the time to look. Watch the video to get in the mood (exciting background music!).
C’mon, Pittsburgh, it’s time to appreciate clouds!
(photo by Kate St. John, video from skyport.com.es on YouTube)
p.s. Did you know that clouds have a genus and species? At the bottom of this webpage is a cloud diagram that shows genus by height. Explore the International Cloud Atlas.
p.p.s. The sun is at the top edge of my photograph. Do you see it?
I recently wrote this poem about our cloudy skies
Another Cloudy Day in Western PA
I have learned to love the clouds
Light gray, dark gray
Wispy, ominous
Sometimes a wooly
Blanket covering the sky
I love them when they line up,
Like children waiting for
Recess, pushing and shoving
One another
One day they might rush by, in a hurry to
Get to the next town or maybe they’ll
Just hang around for a while
Waiting for the wind to
Push them along
There is beauty in their forms
And shapes, their subtle shading,
The way they blush pink in the
Evening because they’ve hidden
Sun all day
I have learned to love the clouds
I see when I turn my face to the sky
©? Candace Kubinec