Tag: Clouds

Rare cloud formations make waves during California storm

A Channel Islands National Park ranger on Wednesday boated across the channel beneath a sky that appeared wavier than the ocean.

A Channel Islands National Park ranger on Wednesday boated across the channel beneath a sky that appeared wavier than the ocean.

The agency featured two images of the surreal-looking cloud formations beyond the Oxnard-Ventura area, explaining to followers via X:

“Check out these rare cloud formations today in the Santa Barbara Channel. A ranger captured this while returning to the mainland. These are asperitas clouds, known for their dramatic wave-like appearance on the underside of the cloud. Asperitas translates to ‘roughness’ in Latin.”

Images courtesy of Channel Islands National Park/NPS

The International Cloud Atlas states that aspertitas “is characterized by localized waves in the cloud base, either smooth or dappled with smaller features, sometimes descending into sharp points, as if viewing a roughened sea surface from below.

“Varying levels of illumination and thickness of the cloud can lead to dramatic visual effects.”

The clouds materialized during an atmospheric river event that delivered heavy rainfall to Southern California. A second wave is expected to arrive beginning late Friday.

Can you spot the weather balloon amid the clouds?

The accompanying image was shared via Twitter on Monday by the Little Rock, Ark., office of the National Weather Service, along with the question: “Can you spot the Weather Balloon?

How many relish the challenge when a nature or weather quiz appears in your social media feeds?

The accompanying image was tweeted Monday by the Little Rock, Ark., office of the National Weather Service, along with the question:

“Can you spot the Weather Balloon? This was about 1 minute after release, nicely camouflaged beneath the altocumulus this evening.”

NWS Little Rock

As quizzes go, this isn’t a difficult challenge for anyone with decent eyesight. But perhaps the point of the NWS Little Rock post was to reveal the beauty of altocumulus cloud formations, parallel bands or clumpy mid-level, gray-shaded clouds typically associated with settled weather.

The formations, which can be strikingly beautiful, sometimes span enormous swaths of sky at an altitude between 7,000 and 23,000 feet.

Writes the U.K.-based Weather Online: “They are white and/or gray in color with generally shadowed parts or undersides and often show a waved aspect.

“They may be well shaped by high winds into lentels or rippled wave patters and might appear as a pancake tower or like an UFO, often sharply outlined, but they may also become partly fibrous and diffuse.”

The quiz answer, if anyone should require confirmation, appears in the image posted below.

NWS Little Rock