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Sky Watchers Want Recognized a Newly Described Type of Cloud

Posted by timothy on from the but-armageddon-is-a-place dept.

phantomfive writes "In Iowa and Scotland there are reports of a type of cloud not yet recognized by the World Meteorological Foundation. It seems the cloud does not match any of the clouds in the International Cloud Atlas, and thus there is a campaign underway to have it included. Some have said the clouds look like Armageddon has arrived."

3 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. More Clouds ... by foobsr · · Score: 4, Informative

    ... for all those who suspect 'Photoshop':

    The Cloud Appreciation Society

    CC.

    --
    TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
  2. Re:Pretty simple for me. by Rei · · Score: 5, Informative

    Indeed. Mammatus aren't too common, but they're really creepy when you do see them in person; it's a whole, "clouds aren't supposed to look like that!" feeling. There's some great photos here. And yes, they actually do look that unreal.

    --
    "I'm GOD! Yapple Dapple!" -- God, "Jesus Christ Supercop"
  3. Re:Pretty simple for me. by toby34a · · Score: 5, Informative

    There most likely is no problem. I actually AM a meteorologist (BS, MS, and finishing up my PhD) and these just look like some cumulus lenticularis- the formation mechanism is due to some waveform within the atmosphere that causes regular forms of condensation that appear like this. These are nothing really new, the sceintific basis is pretty good for these clouds to be listed. It's a 2-D wave pattern with a good airmass boundary. It's definitely neat, but it's not like it's earth-shattering cloud formation.