Defining Cloudy

Chart from Meteorology Today, 8th Ed., by Donald Ahrens.

   The chart above shows the official symbols used by meteorologist on weather charts and maps. This is a pretty funny chart; it reads like a joke--one that doesn't make much sense, but has a great punch line. I understand the symbol for clear, 4/8, and overcast. The others aren't instantly comprehensible.

Looks more like 1/2 to me.

Looks like international symbol for an information kiosk.

 And then there is the big M for Missing. I am sure this refers to missing data, but I had to laugh. Where would you look for a missing sky?

Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do.

 But seriously...when used in combination with the table below, these symbols make you realize that it doesn't take many clouds to make cloudy. A sky covered by graced by--more than 25%  clouds is cloudy. And "cloudy" has such negative connotations. Which is too bad. Cloudful would be more a better adjective.

I took this photo around 3 p.m. Monday.  A classic example of altostratus clouds over Budd Inlet.  The National Weather Service report from Olympia Airport listed the clouds as Few and Scattered (SCT).  Hmmmm....

This photo shows the western edge of the cloud bank above--skies starting to clear.  The National Weather Service did not mention the crows--few and scattered.

Amy and Cnidarian

This is my friend Amy looking relaxed and happy during our dory tour of Budd Inlet in August. Amy was steering the boat while I was doing all the hard work rowing it at .05 knots an hour on flat water at high tide. This was the day we encountered the masses of moon jellies and lion's mane jellies. The latter jellies were enormous (about eighteen inches across with a good ten feet of tentacle) but we were both surprised to learn that the lion's mane is the world's largest jelly fish and that it was in Budd Inlet. I guess we imagined it would be found cavorting with the Giant Squid, the Blue Whale, and other creatures of mythic proportions somewhere in open ocean. 

 On a recent trip to Washington, DC, Amy and I toured the Natural History Museum and encountered a model of what is likely the world's largest specimen the world's largest cnidarian (below).

 We were quite happy to have not encountered a lion's mane this size on our dory ride, though I am sure we would have gotten our pictures in the paper and not just in a blog posting.

 Our tour of the museum's natural wonders followed a visit to the National Gallery of Art where I ruined Amy's appreciation for the great masterpieces by commenting on the clouds in each one. Now I am done with jellyfish and will resume my Still Life with Clouds work.