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Sky Watchers Want Recognized a Newly Described Type of Cloud
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."
"Armageddulus"
I'm not a meteorologist, but I love clouds and have looked at thousands of cloud photos over the years. Never seen any exactly like this. FTA, no one seems to dispute that these are so far undocumented. ... So where is the problem? Add a new cloud already.
Experience teaches only the teachable. -AH
In the olden days, when I was a kid, alto-cirrus were notable for their rarity. Nowadays, in California at least, they seem almost a daily phenomena. Climate change, perhaps?
The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
Though I'm not sure I would want to store my data in it.
... and then they built the supercollider.
Yeah, the reflections are all wrong. Definitely photoshopped.
"Some have said the clouds look like Armageddon has arrived." ... Others have said, that once you enter the cloud, things get really foggy and damp... What's the point of this again?
Does this smell like Chloroform to you?
Seen it. Took a picture. Just sent it to them. I was at a camp out. Everybody totally freaked out and hid in their tents and vehicles.
Crisis is the rule, not the exception.
... for all those who suspect 'Photoshop':
The Cloud Appreciation Society
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
Call it "Pluto"
Table-ized A.I.
Looks like mammatus clouds - something any pilot would instantly recognize (and avoid)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammatus
It's usually out in extreme rural areas, where cold and warm fronts usually push against each other. Northwest Iowa is a perfect example, up near South Dakota and Minnesota.
Yoda hater!
Table-ized A.I.
This occured on May 25th 2009 in Dallas, just north of downtown. I'm sure if you search flickr for that geotag/timestamp, other pictures of it will show up in outdoor pics in the background of the images. Here's my 2megapixel cell phone camera picture of it:
http://nearlydeaf.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/IMG00395.jpg
And here's my shameless personal blog plug about my entry about it just now:
http://nearlydeaf.com/?p=377
I'll admit my picture isn't as good as the one posted in Wired (it hasn't been photoshopped to hell with image contrast and color saturation), but I was on my lunch break trying to meet up with a friend for lunch at the mall that day.
moox. for a new generation.
> it was edited in Photoshop. I can now confirm this.
Perhaps that image was.
What about these?
http://images.google.com/images?q=undulatus%20asperatus&hl=en&safe=off
These clouds do have a name - they are called mammatus clouds. They are typically associated with convective activity. They are not unknown, and there are thousands of photos of mammatus clouds on the internet. We get them occasionally where I live. I understand they are most frequent in places like the mid West in the United States, but that doesn't mean you don't occasionally see them in other places - such as where I live, or in Scotland.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
The city of Malaga in Spain has experienced these as well:
http://tinyurl.com/yzmoqnu
Is there any need for that safe=off in your query string?
xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
Rorschach Clouds. Seriously.
I look at that picture and all I see are breasts. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm... Boobie Clouds.
__ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
So I will just say... those look really, really cool.
#DeleteChrome
Two clicks away from the article, I found the name "mammatus lenticularis".
Lenticularis are lens-like clouds that usually hang just above the peak of a mountain. These are caused by a warmer layer of air on top being pushed above the condensation level by the wind having to go over a mountain.
These look like mamatus, but more creepy. Less regular.
So referring to mammatus refers to the way they look. Referring to lenticularis refers to the way they form: In exactly the same way as normal lenticularis does.
Is there any need for that safe=off in your query string?
Yes. Or else it would miss the best site
http://www.dissolute.com.au/avweb/emmabw/408.html
As I downloaded the picture and just opened it in Photoshop CS4 and it has clearly been "heavily edited".
Photoshop is used for adjusting contrast and levels as well as retouching images - almost every image you see published will have gone through photoshop (save on sites like flickr.com). That the image passed through photoshop on the way to being published on wired is really no surprise. There are certainly heavy jpeg artefacts on the image, but that's not surprising either, could have been introduced by the camera or wired resaving as lower-res.
What do you mean by 'heavily edited', and why is that in quotes - did someone tell you this and you're repeating it to us?
The cloud is just a fad.
This isn't all that interesting/new to me. Maybe I'm just not enough of a cloudy-scientist-type, but out here on the plains, I tend to spend a great deal of time looking up at the clouds (not much else to look at).
Clouds like these seem to come around out here on the Dakota plains this time of year - aka during hurricane/tornado season. I've seen them a handful of times, and they are kinda freaky. I think each of the times I saw them it was due to several fronts of differing temperatures converging - ie, not just two fronts, but a hot and cold front, as well as another of unknown median temperature. Oddly, I don't recall any storms accompanying them, though there was a little dribbling a time or two as well as some very high up lightning.
I'm pretty sure that this isn't a "cloud structure" so much as multiple cloud structures at different altitudes passing each other and possibly causing turbulence in the other layers - not a subduction, per se, but something like one. But what do I know, I don't even know the proper names for all the different clouds...
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
The king of all clouds.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Are we so hard up that we are now ogling cloud boobs?
Always going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse.
Do they have the one that looks like a whale? :D
.
P.S: Try to resist the urge to respond to this with yo-mama jokes ;)
It's moving fast against the wind.
not yet recognized by the World Meteorological Foundation
Not surprising, since it's called the World Meteorological Organization.
Animoog.org
I am by no means an expert or even amature cloud identifier, but those look like severe Altostratus Undulatus to me. And actually, ever since the summer of 2005, I've noticed them a lot here near Portland, Maine, when I never noticed them before. When they get well pronounced, it does look Armageddonish.
WTF is north west west ? Did you mean west north west ? And you must have fucking good eyesight to determine that this picture was taken anywhere specific. A few power lines and a couple of rooflines with trees around. Maybe you could give us the GPS coordinates smartarse. And opening a probable 3rd generation image in photoshop proves nothing. There is no image data available other than size.
... I'd keep well out of its way.
I'd probably stay on the ground, actually, unless someone experienced in flying in that sort of weather was able to convince me that it was OK.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7574684.stm
For a very smart reference to The Orb
Slashdot: news for Apple. Stuff that Apple.
When I was in Southern Illinois Mammatus clouds were evident now and again. Usually they were associated with very unstable air and sometimes preceded severe storms by a while. Once you see them, they are pretty distinctive. They really do look like angel breasts.
I think it looks like a bunny rabbit.
WTF is north west west ? Did you mean west north west ? And you must have fucking good eyesight to determine that this picture was taken anywhere specific. A few power lines and a couple of rooflines with trees around. Maybe you could give us the GPS coordinates smartarse. And opening a probable 3rd generation image in photoshop proves nothing. There is no image data available other than size.
I was about to call you a Troll but that would be too kind asking for proof and then slamming slashdot and calling me an arsehole is not very nice is it? Let me educate your silly mind. Depending on where you are on the planet, bearings are different. If you do not know the definition of bearings, please find your bearings in a dictionary. Chambers will be fine for you. I have a better comprehension of words, and you ought to shut your festering slit. The fact you want me to give you GPS coordinates, means your map reading skills are FOOBAR. However, I am going to increase the pressure on you mentally, your navigation skills are broken. What sort of person like yourself would lead yourself to a destination unknown? You can kill all your children this way if and you are not an opinion leader. God help you when you get stuck on the side of a Mountain in bad weather. But you cannot navigate without your GPS or SatNav.
All cows eat grass!
Is it just me, or is the headline for this article in Yoda instead of English?
It seems like "Sky Watcher Ask for New Cloud Description" would have read more smoothly and been shorter.
I'm not dogmatic about the "Climate Change" issue. When it comes to correlation of anthropogenic effects and and alarmist code words, might I suggest "Holocene Extinction Event".
You may flame when ready, Gridley.
The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
...that computing cloud I've been hearing so much about?
tell us that something is no longer a cloud and you'd have a news. and i don't mean rain.
No I am not repeating anything. When I opened it in CS4 it has a history function. and it shows every action of all the editing processes. I feel we can now move on from this topic as there is nothing more to be gained.
All cows eat grass!
Of course there has been lots of discussion in the scientific community as to what kind of cloud this might be...
Some have said that, with the bits coming off the top, it should be considered a bunny-cloud. Others have said that it rather looks more like a sea turtle swimming sideways, or a sailboat of some kind.
Amidst all this discussion a few fringe theories have also emerged. One scientist said he thought it looked like a naked lady (though it should be noted he said the same about most of the clouds) - another said that the cloud was actually none of those things - that it was actually an imaginary being called a byrnicoche, and that this one was his personal friend, named Willam.
Bow-ties are cool.
I for one welcome our new Cloud Overlords with all this new cloud computing technology which was never used before these are obviously our new overlords.
These are lenticular clouds. I saw a similar set five years ago in Alaska.
http://garote.bdmonkeys.net/alaska/pages-full/day_31/20040616-083000-more_morning_clouds.html
these clouds are beautiful