Cloud of the Week #2: Cirrus vertebratus
Cirrus vertebratus (photo by M. Ruth) |
These high clouds form at the same altitude as last week's cirrus radiatus--16,500-45,000 ft.--and usually indicate otherwise clear skies. They may however, thicken and begin a progression toward deteriorating weather.
Many of you took my "Head in the Clouds Survey" last month and identified the jet contrails in one photograph as cirrus clouds. I should have given you half credit for this answer, because contrails and cirrus clouds both form at similar altitudes and do look alike sometimes . I guess you could call a contrail a faux cirrus or psuedo cirrus (which is more fun to say out loud). Below is a photo of a jet contrail mimicking a cirrus vertebratus.
Jet contrail mimicking cirrus vertebratus (photo by M. Ruth) |
In fact, this looks more like human vertebrae than the top photo. How do I know this is a jet contrail? Because I was watching the sky to the south of my home where I usually see jet contrails (heading north from Portland). I watched and photographed the deterioration of the contrail so I know this was not a naturally formed
cirrus vertebratus. If such contrails formed amid authentic
cirrus vertebratus, the identification would be trickier.
Real
Ci ve (the official code) materialize in the sky gradually, almost imperceptibly, are irregular in width, and do not have a plane at one end (!) Jet contrails usually appear in the same sector of the sky (relative to your nearest airport), usually follow similar flight paths (mostly parallel, but with some criss-crossing), and are similar in width.
Though I have taken thousands of photographs of clouds in the past year, I would like to lure my readers to other websites where you can see thousands more.
Click here to go to Clouds Online, a fabulous easy-to-navigate cloud atlas.
Next up: Tangled Cirrus