Image via Wikipedia

Astronomers predict that more than 500 meteors per hour will streak across the early morning sky as the constellation of Leo appears in the East before sunrise on November 17th.  Since meteor showers receive their names from the constellation from which they appear to fall, or radiate, this slew of meteors is called the Leonids’ Meteor Shower.

These particular meteors come from the trail of dust formed by the 55/Tempel-Tuttle comet as this debris stream crosses the earth’s path–a yearly occurrence since 1466.  A comet, of course, makes an elongated orbit around the sun, its central mass, or nucleus, surrounded by a coma that extends into a steam, or tail, pointed away from the sun.  A meteor, in turn, is the streak formed by a piece of rocky debris, or a meteoroid, passing through the earth’s upper atmosphere.

To best observe the Leonids’ Meteor Shower, head away from city lights and toward the constellation.  Position the body so that the horizon appears on the edge of your peripheral vision. When it’s dark enough to see each star in the Little Dipper, sky watchers can see these falling stars.

Image via Wikipedia

The one end (southwest end) of the damaged area is at 39° 59′ 17″ N 77° 22′ 51 W and altitude 1435 Feet.  I am showing the eXplorist 200 in this picture to show how I recorded this information.   This GPS unit is actually on the ground along the side of PA 233.

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Picture by Author

To give a perspective of the view I have included a Google Earth view of the area with two push pins on PA 233 that show the end points on the road of the damaged area.  The south west end is near an access road, the north east end near an ATV trail.  Both can be seen in the Google view.  This is approximately 570 yards (521 m).   I have also drawn what I believe is the area the storm damage with a Google Earth path on the view.  I do not know which way the storm was moving.  

Storm1

Google Earth image noted by the Author

Let’s look at the area from ground level.

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Picture by Author

This picture is taken facing bearing 20 degrees (NNE – toward Pine Grove) from the point 39° 59′ 17″ N 77° 22′ 51 W – the south west push pin.  It shows one large tree in the background and other smaller trees in the foreground.  The tree in the background is much older and taller than the ones near us including the one on the right edge of the picture.  At the time of the storm nearly all of the mature trees were destroyed.   A very few of the very solid ones remained and some of the very small ones survived.  This may be a clue as to the nature of the storm.  Generally the destroyed trees were blown over at the roots, not snapped higher in the trunk.  

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Picture by Author

This picture is taken facing bearing 45 (NE) from the 39° 59′ 17″ N 77° 22′ 51 W – the south west push pin.  It shows the one large tree in the background to the left which we saw in the previous picture and other smaller trees in the foreground.  But on the right half of the picture we see two larger trees, one on each side of the road.  If we look at this we will see that one tree on eath side of the road survived at that point.  On the left side most trees were destroyed, on the right most or all survived. 

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Picture by Author

This picture is taken facing bearing 225 (SW – toward Shippensburg Road) from the 39° 59′ 17″ N 77° 22′ 51 W – the south west push pin.  I have my back to the car in the previous picture.  It shows four large trees along the north side of the road – the side that if we look the other way shows few large trees.  The storms devastation apparently stopped rather abruptly in this interval.  There may have been some damage to the right of the motorcycle in the picture but not to several trees along the road.  A hunting cabin to the left of the picture had no visible damage at the time.

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Picture by Author

This is a much better picture of the four trees shown in the previous picture.  Note the size of the trunks.  I can’t be sure but it appears that the right side of the trees, away from the road may have lost limbs, look at how they have limbs that extend across the road but few that go the opposite way.

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Picture by Author

Here is another view that shows the smaller trees with one large one in the background.  This is the norm for various views in this area.

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Picture by Author

This picture is taken from across the road from at 39° 59′ 17″ N 77° 22′ 51 W and shows large trees in the area, unlike the other side of the road. 

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Picture by Author

We have now moved from the south west end to just beyond the north east end of the area.  You can see the mature trees on the right half of the picture.  But I am looking nearly due North – away from the storm area.  39° 59′ 28″ N 77° 22′ 35 W

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Picture by Author

This is a view on bearing approximate 335 (WNW) from the same point as the previous picture.  With the slight turn we see smaller trees but none of the larger ones.    39° 59′ 28″ N 77° 22′ 35 W

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Picture by Author

Here we are at the north east point along PA 233 where the ATV trail crosses.  We can see two large trees in the foreground but nothing else of size shows.  We would here have been on the edge of the storm.  

39° 59′ 28″ N 77° 22′ 35 W

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Picture by Author

The GPS gives the location.   I try to put it down, take a shot of it and then take as many pictures as possible from that location so I have a reference.

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Picture by Author

Here looking from the road to the north west we see mostly smaller trees and brush.  At the edge of the picture there is a larger double tree with the one trunk snapped about 15 feet from the ground.  Although most trees were blown over near the South west end of the storm the north east end had some snapped trees.

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Picture by Author

This view from the same point panned just about half a frame to the left shows the same pattern, large trees along the road but none deeper into the woods.

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Picture by Author

Here we see the pattern further along the road, with almost no large trees.

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Picture by Author

And here is another that shows the same pattern.  For someone who grew up in this area, this would appear to be an area that was logged about 40-70 years ago. 

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Picture by Author

This view along the road shows large trees on the left, none on the right.  Note the stump along the right side of the road.

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Picture by Author

Here we have pointed the camera to the other side of the road.  Note that there are three very large trees in the foreground.

I wonder if this was a microburst or a tornado.

Other Articles by Ralph Brandt

• Academia Glossary Feb 26, 2007
• Tearing A Page Out Of The Bible Feb 26, 2007
• Taking A Stand Takes Courage – Even In The Church Feb 26, 2007
• Gas Light Oct 29, 2006
• Pinchot Lake – Fall 3 – fog Oct 29, 2006
• Pinchot Lake – Fall 2 Oct 29, 2006
• Pinchot Lake: Fall 1 Oct 29, 2006
• Sandra Chapter 01: the Accident
• The First Family: Chapter 1 – Introduction
• The Handshue Sect 1
• The Night Sniper Chapter One: On the Beat
• World War II – a Novel Chapter One

• The Day Kennedy Died
• Women In War
• The Ribbon
• Maple – fall Red

St Elmo’s Fire on Masts of a Ship at Sea (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

Descriptions of St Elmo’s fire have also found their way into works of fiction, including those of William Shakespeare and Herman Melville. Even classical writers, such as Pliny and Julius Caesar, have given us first-hand accounts of the spectacle.

Often seen as an omen, or a manifestation of some mythological or religious presence, the phenomenon is sometimes known by the term ‘corposant’, meaning ‘holy body’. But despite its superstitious associations, St Elmo’s fire does have a scientific explanation.

Electrical Phenomenon

St Elmo’s fire belongs to a class of meteorological occurrences known as electrometeors. The UK Met Office describes an electrometeor as ‘a visible or audible manifestation of atmospheric electricity.’ Other examples include thunder, lightning, the polar aurorae (aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and aurora australis in the southern hemisphere) and the wonderfully named sprites, blue jets and elves.

More specifically, St Elmo’s fire is an example of a corona or point discharge. Also, whereas the length of a lightning strike can usually be measured in milliseconds, an occurrence of St Elmo’s fire can last for minutes. To demonstrate what happens let us look at an example of a lightning conductor on the side of a cathedral, as in the photograph below.

St David’s Cathedral, Wales (Image by Author)

The lightning conductor in this case is grounded, as is the rest of the building. This means that the electrical potential at point B is almost the same as at point A (subject to any electrical resistance in the material). In the air surrounding the building the electrical potential decreases as we go higher, by about one volt per centimetre in normal atmospheric conditions.

The result is a potential difference at point B between the lightning conductor and the air molecules around it. This causes an electrical current to flow from the building to the air. Under normal conditions this current is very weak and unnoticeable, but during periods of high electrical activity, such as a thunderstorm, the rate at which the electrical potential of the air decreases with altitude is greater, leading to an increased potential difference at point B and an increased current.

When the current is very high, the collisions between the free electrons and the air molecules provide enough energy for the air molecules to luminesce. They glow with a green, blue or violet light but produce no heat. The discharge may also be accompanied by a hissing or crackling sound. This is St Elmo’s fire.

Origin of the Name

But why is this phenomenon associated with St Elmo? As the bishop of Formia during the late 3rd and early 4th centuries, St Elmo (originally St Erasmus) was martyred during the Roman emperor Diocletian’s persecution of the Christians. He may be the same person as St Erasmus of Antioch.

As the potential for St Elmo’s fire to occur increases with height, it is more noticeable around the tallest of structures. In a time when most buildings had few storeys, the majority of the tallest structures in the world were the masts of ships. So, as the phenomenon usually occurred near the end of a thunderstorm and was seen mostly around ships, St Elmo’s fire was seen by sailors as proof that their patron saint was saving them. And the patron saint of Mediterranean sailors was St Elmo.

Sea, Land and Air

But St Elmo’s fire doesn’t just occur at sea. I have used the example of a lightning conductor above, but it can be seen elsewhere on land. Height amplifies the effect, but so does an object that comes to a sharp point. It has been observed around tree branches and objects high in the mountains.

The age of flight has taken St Elmo’s fire into the air. When an aircraft flies near to a thunderstorm, the phenomenon can be observed around its wing tips, nose, propellers or windscreen (as in the photograph below).

St Elmo’s Fire Across an Aircraft Windscreen (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

Weather affects our daily lives in many ways. For example, the clothes we wear depend on the kind of weather. It the weather is warm we would not wear thick clothing because we would fell hot. It the weather is wet we would need an umbrella or a raincoat to protect us. Even the food we eat is affected by the weather. On cold days, we prefer hot soup to keep us warm. On warm days we prefer ice cream or ice-cold drinks to keep us cool. The weather also affects how we spend our free time. Sunny days are good for outdoor activities like going on a picnic, hiking and swimming. Rainy days are spent on indoor games like chess and scrabble or reading storybooks. Agriculture, transportation and industry are also affected by weather. A long dry weather can affect plant growth while stormy weather can destroy crops. Heavy rains and floods can slow down traffic.

Knowing about weather changes and their effects on our everyday lives are necessary in making decisions every now and then. When weather elements indicate a cold stormy weather, we can decide what kind of clothes to wear to keep us warm. If we know that our place easily gets flooded when it rains, we will have a pair of boots ready for use to protect our feet from cold and dirty floodwaters.

Weather reports are announced over the radio, on television and in the newspapers. These reports help people in making decisions. A typhoon takes several days to develop. When an approaching typhoon is announced, people who are likely to be affected can make the necessary preparations. They can repair roofs and windows, store food and water, and have warm blankets and clothing ready for use. Weather reports help shipping and airline companies decide whether to suspend travel or go on with it. People who are scheduled to travel can postpone their trip until it is safe to travel. In this way, accidents can be prevented. Farmers wait for the rains to plant their crops and they wait for good weather to harvest it. Fishermen will not go out to sea if there is an approaching storm. They know that their lives will be in danger if they do so.

Making decisions related to weather changes is important because this helps us avoid accidents.

Image by law_keven via Flickr

Image via Wikipedia

Not many would question the delight to be had when seeing a rainbow.  The wonderful sight of a rainbow is one of those things that brings a smile to people’s faces and something we never seem to tire of.  But despite always wondering, have you ever actually found out how they appear?  No?  Then let me enlighten you…

Many people know that if you shine a beam of normal white light through a prism, it is split into the many colours, visible and otherwise, that the white light is actually made up of.

Now, raindrops do the same thing to white light that a prism does.  If light is shone into them, from the sun, the light that is reflected off the back surface of the drop, just like light bouncing off the surfaces of a prism, is split into the many component colours that make up the white light.

These different component colours, just like from a prism, spread out and leave the raindrop at different angles.  The colour of the light that then actually makes it to your eye depends on what angle that raindrop is between you and the source of light, the sun.

A raindrop that is higher up in the sky will reflect red light at just the right angle for your eye.  A raindrop that is a little lower in the sky will reflect green light at the right angle for your eye.  Lower in the sky still and a raindrop will reflect blue light to your eye at just the right angle.

Now, multiply one raindrop by millions, and high in the sky you see a band of red light, lower a band of green, and lower still a band of blue, and the other colours in between accordingly, although these 3 colours are usually the most easily discernible.

And that, is how a rainbow is formed.

Enquiring minds like mine will no doubt want to know how the bow is bow shaped, or even why you sometimes get a secondary bow.  These explanations are not quite as easy as this one, but keep a look out for my other articles to find out….unless you want to find out somewhere else yourself of course?  Learning is fun, whatever age you are.

 As global warming heats up our Earth, we can expect to see a ton of thunderstorms and frequent violent conditions. This will bring more rain and precipitation onto our earth. “Global warming could bring the USA a dramatic increase in the frequency of weather conditions that feed severe thunderstorms and tornadoes by the end of the 21st century” (Rice, 09d) After technical research, the National Academy of Sciences has come to a conclusion that some places have been predicted to receive 100% increase in the number of days that favor severe thunderstorms. Now you may ask, what is meant by a severe thunderstorm? If wind gusts reach 58 mph or faster, if hail is 0.75 of an inch in diameter or larger, or if the thunderstorm produces a tornado or tornadoes, it is considered to be a severe thunderstorm. The hardest hit places from these conditions will be the south and east U.S.A including conditions in New York and Atlanta being ruthless.   

 Now, after hearing these predictions, the question arises “What is responsible for these terrifying conditions?” The answer to the question is actually quite simple; us humans and global warming. “The fuel for the more intense storms would be the predicted warming of the Earth caused by the burning of fossil fuels that release greenhouse gases.”(Rice, 09d) Scientists have also discovered that as the temperature of the Earth rises, the warm humid air that causes thunderstorms is expected to increase extensively. These temperature increases have been predicted to rise from 3 -7 degrees Fahrenheit above average by 2100. These temperatures shall strengthen and intensify precipitation.

The bottom line is something has to be done sooner or later. As Al Gore has already explained in his video “An Inconvenient Truth”, we could end up watching Manhattan shrink and then be devoured by water in the next century. NASA researchers have also predicted that the climate models they used to research temperature rises were limited. Actual conditions could be worse than depicted.   

Hurricane Elena took a strange path through the Gulf of Mexico, which included a loop, and prompted many Floridians to evacuate from the coastline. Being that my family lived 5 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico, we were included in this mass exodus.

Flickr Image Credit

The timing couldn’t have been better for us though. We had just secured our summer, family vacation in the centrally located, family loving, theme park boasting wonderland that is Orlando, Florida, for that exact weekend. For any kid, this is obviously a complete dream come true.

While others were packing their belongings and driving to the nearest school or church to take shelter in, our family was packing up the car with neon cotton sunhats, 35 proof sunblock and kid travel games for an amazing trip to Disney World! This was probably the most fun I ever had on a family vacation for the sheer reason of feeling like “the lucky one.”  Lame, perhaps, but unforgettable.

When we returned home, everything was in tact except for our pale English skin which missed some proper sun-blocking.

Hurricanes are possibly one of the most perilous natural hazards known to man, as they have colossal impacts on both humans and the environment in which they live.

Hurricane Bill

Bill is now officially the 1st hurricane of the season with winds reaching over 135mph it has been classified as a category 4 storm. Current predictions of it’s path vary from hitting Bermuda in 3-4 days to missing it entirely and skimming the coast of the mainland USA. The one thing that is for certain is that Bill will certainly cause rip currents and wave swells. It is also possible that due to the favourable weather and sea conditions that Bill will continue to strengthen before making landfall.

Pictured – 19th August

Pictured – 12th August

Tropical Storm Anna:

This was expected to make landfall in the Leeward Islands on Wednesday 19th August, current predictions of the windspeeds make it a tropical depression.

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Felicia:

Hurricane Felicia has been downgraded to a tropical storm, as it winds have reduced from 140mph to around 50mph. It continued to diminish before it made landfall in the Hawaiian island chain as it is continued to move over cooler water. Even though Felicia has been downgraded it is still likely to cause flooding throughout the island chain.

What is a hurricane?

A hurricane is a massive spinning storm with an area of very low pressure at the centre. The average wind-speed in a hurricane is over 140km per hour or 74 mph. The storm can be up to 17km or 10miles high and on average 800km or 500miles wide. It moves forwards at speeds of about 30km per hour or 20mph like a huge spinning top. An average hurricane can travel 500 – 650 km or 300 to 400 miles a day and can travel in total about 5000km or 3000miles before it dies out.

Image via Wikipedia

What conditions are needed for hurricanes to form?

There are specific conditions that need to be met to turn a common storm into a hurricane, the two most important of these are:

• oceans with a surface temperature over 26C, this comes from tropical and provides very warm, moist air.
• Latitudes 5 → 30 which provide the spin or twist due to the rotation of the earth.

For a hurricane to form it is necessary for these trigger conditions to be right at the same time.

Image via Wikipedia

How do hurricanes form?

• The warm sea heats the air above it, as it does this, this moist warm air rises
• This then creates an area of low pressure directly below the rising moist warm air
• Winds rushes in towards this area of low pressure
• These winds then whirl upwards releasing the heat and moisture in them before falling again
• Due to the rotation of the Earth the rising column of air twists
• The column of air eventually begins to look like a cylinder rotating around an area of still air (the eye)
• The rising air cools down producing massive clouds (both cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds)
• At about 10km or 6 miles high, the tops of the clouds are carried outwards, due to the rotating nature of the winds they spread outwards leaving the hurricane’s core cloud free

How does a hurricane get its energy?

Huge amounts of energy are obtained from the warm water when it is evaporated to form the warm, moist air. The energy is then stored in the water vapour that is held in this warm moist air. As the air rises most of this energy is released in the formation of the clouds and rain. As this energy is released it causes another drop in pressure , this means that more air rushes in at an even faster rate to fill this area of low pressure. So more warm, moist air rises from the sea – which then provides more energy for the hurricane. This process is referred to as a self-sustaining heat-engine.

The energy that isn’t used to form clouds is then transferred to the rotating clouds. This small amount of energy (less than 5% of that drawn from the seas) is enough to supply the USA with electricity for about 6months!

Why do they die over land?

These storms can cause widespread destruction, especially when the path of the hurricane is overland. But, a path over land also leads to the hurricane dying. The hurricane’s energy comes from warm seas and the warm moist air it picks up from these, as this energy source is no longer available over land the hurricane runs out of energy. This loss of energy, in combination with the friction cased by travelling over land as opposed to water deforms the air flow of the hurricane. This causes the hurricane’s eye to collapse and fill with cloud, the hurricane then dies.

When do hurricanes occur?

North of the equator these storms occur between July and October. South of the equator they occur between November and March. The name hurricane is used for the storms in the Atlantic, in the Pacific they are called typhoons, finally off Australia and in the Indian Ocean they are referred to as cyclones. The storms are given names starting with ‘A’, ‘B’ etc., In the order they occurred in and the names are alternately male and female.

Other effects:
The most common occurrence linked with hurricanes are strong winds. Other phenomena include:

• Huge waves up to 15 metres high – referred to as hurricane waves that are created by the strong winds and may cause widespread flooding.
• An increase in ocean level – referred to as a swell.
• Rain – hurricanes can pick up roughly 2 billion tons of moisture per day this then forms rain.

Hurricane categories:

Category 1:

• · Wind Speed about 74-95 mph
• · Storm Surge of 4-5 ft.
• · Effects: No real damage to building structures. Damage principally to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery and trees. Some coastal flooding and minor pier damage.

Category 2:

• · Wind Speed about 96-100 mph
• · Storm Surge of 6-8 ft.
• · Effects: Damage to roofs, windows and doors. Significant damage to mobile homes and vegetation. Coastal flooding may damage piers.

Category 3:

• · Wind Speed about 111-130 mph
• · Storm Surge of 9-12 ft.
• · Effects: Structural damage to small buildings. Destruction of mobile homes and vegetation. Coastal flooding may destroy small structures, larger structures can be damaged by floating debris. Inland flooding may also occur.

Category 4:

• · Wind Speed about 131-155 mph
• · Storm Surge of 13-18 ft.
• · Effects: Structural damage to curtain-walls. Destruction of roofs on small structures. Coastal erosion, particularly of beach areas. Substantial inland flooding may occur.

Category 5:

• · Wind Speed about 156+ mph
• · Storm Surge of 18+ ft.
• · Effects: Structural damage to many buildings, leading to building failure. Destruction of roofs on larger and industrial structures. Coastal erosion, particularly of beach areas. Substantial flooding causes major damage to lower floors of structure near shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas near the shoreline occurs.

Hurricane prediction:

The National Hurricane Centre in Miami, Florida looks for potential hurricanes as they are forming, it then tracks them through their life cycle until they dissipate and die. This is done using a network of satellites and many people and computer.

Satellites detect the early stages of development of hurricanes and can help to provide early warning. Specially reinforced aircraft can fly through and over hurricanes to collect additional information. Radar stations can locate and provide more data when the storm is within 200 miles of them. All of this data is then used to forecast the track or path of the storm, to provide residents in the areas that may be affected with the best information possible.

Hurricane warnings

The USA has the most highly developed hurricane warning system. When there are clear-cut signs that a storm may be turning into a hurricane the Weather Bureau system springs into action.

Coastal areas where the winds are expected to reach in excess of 74mph, or dangerously high waves or swells are predicted are issued with a hurricane warning. The general public are usually informed through television broadcasts and a system of flying flags during the day and lanterns at night.

The National Hurricane Center’s website has recently seen development where you type in your zip code to get information about possible hazards in your area and where to evacuate to if it is necessary.

You might like my other science articles:

Lunar Eclipse: August 5-6, 2009

The Perseids Meteor Shower – August 2009

Viewing Venus and The International Space Station on August 17th

Earthquakes: Causes, Effects and Prediction, Including the Recent California Earthquake

Bubonic Plague: Symptoms, Treatment & Transmission

Image via Wikipedia

There is a theory that the dinosaurs were wiped out by some such an impact event and a school of thought which says that the Moon was formed when a huge meteorite hit the earth and a chunk of rock flew off into space.

Image via Wikipedia

Large scale meteor impacts are rare put they have happened historically and are always a possibility. Many science fiction films have been made with the impact of a huge meteor or comet as their central story. Astrogeologists have calculated that during the past six hundred million years the earth has been impacted by sixty objects with a width of five kilometres, or more.

There have been some relatively modern instances of impact events on the earth’s surface too. In 1490 in Shangxi Province, China, a storm in which lumps of rock fell on people was recorded. More that 10,000 people died and scientist attribute this to the break up of a large asteroid.

In Siberia, Russia, in 1908, it is thought that a comet exploded at a height of about 5 kilometres above the surface of the earth and the force from the impact felled a huge number of trees over an area of eight hundred and thirty square miles.

The other planets and moons in our solar system have the same problem but it is only on earth that the collision sites, or astroblemes, become weathered over time and cannot be seen properly. Some craters on the earth’s surface are still under scientific investigation because of this and debate continues as to whether some craters are formed by meteorites, or by long extinct volcanoes.

The Vredefort Ring which was thought to be the world’s largest meteorite crater at 186 miles wide (300 kilometres) was declared by scientists in 1963 to be volcanic in origin, but later recategorized as a giant meteorite crater.

The largest meteorite craters on earth are categorized and measured by the International Union of Geological Sciences Commission on Comparative Planetology.

At number 1 is the Vredefort crater in South Africa, followed by Sudbury, Ontario, Canada with a diameter of 155 miles (250 kilometres). Third is Chiculub, Yucatan, Mexico at 107 miles (170 kilometres).

Cloud Names: Cumulus, Stratus, Cirrus, and Nimbus

Clouds are named based on the Latin word for what they look like to an observer on the ground.

• Cumulus = heaped, or bunched up
• Stratus = layered, in layers
• Cirrus = curl, or curl of hair, strand of hair
• Nimbus = rain, or wet

Clouds are also identified and named by the height of their cloud base.The prefix Cir- meaning high level, and Alto-identifying it as a mid level cloud.  Just by learning these Latin words you will be able to look into the sky almost anytime and name the cloud formation of the day.

High Level Clouds: Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, and Cirrostratus

High-level clouds form above 20,000 feet and are made of ice crystals.  These are Cirrus clouds.  Remember, like strands or curls of hair, thin and wispy.

Cirrus

These are Cirrocumulus clouds.  Remember the name modifier, these are high and thin, but also bunched or heaped together in lumps, not like hair at all.

Cirrocumulus

The last high level type is the Cirrostratus.  Hazy, like a veil, possibly with a halo because of the effect it has on light from the Sun.

Cirrostratus

Mid Level Clouds: Altocumulus, and Altostratus

Mid level clouds appear between 6500 and 20000 feet.  Generally consisting of water droplets, they may sometimes be ice crystals if the temperature is low enough. 

These are Altocumulus clouds, alto  “high” or “higher than most” and cumulus “heaps”.  These clouds are bunched up masses, although they are larger and darker than the Cirrocumulus, but smaller than the Stratocumulus.

Altocumulus

Altostratus clouds tend to be uniform and gray.  Sheet-like across the sky.  These are the clouds that are dangerous for airplanes because they can cause ice to form.

Altostratus

Low Level Clouds: Cumulus, Stratus, Stratocumulus, Nimbostratus, and Cumulonimbus

Low level clouds usually have bases that are below 6500 feet.  The consist of water droplets, although again if the temperature is cold enough there may be ice crystals. 

Cumulus clouds are, in general, what everyone thinks of when the word cloud comes to mind.

Cumulus

Stratus clouds, again, identified by the name meaning layers, are usually uniform in their appearance, as though a sheet had been stretched across the sky.  Stratus clouds are what most people think of as a cloudy day.

Stratus

Below, stratocumulus clouds may indicate bad weather coming.  They appeared clumped together in layers.  Again, the key to remembering the names of clouds is to remember those four Latin words and a couple modifiers.

Stratocumulus

Nimbostratus clouds are, can you guess?  Nimbo-, meaning rain, and -stratus meaning layers.  These are the grey overcast cast clouds of your typical rainy weather.

Nimbostratus

They mean moderate to heavy rain, or snow if conditions are right.

Some of the most dramatic clouds are Cumulonimbus clouds.  While their bases start low like other cumulus clouds they can rise vertically to towering heights.  These produce heavy precipitation and are the major lightning producers.  These types of clouds can also go on to develop into “super-cells” which are severe type of thunderstorm weather.

Cumulonimbus

These are the major classifications of clouds, there are several modifiers that can be used.  Here are a few of them for you viewing pleasure.

Other types of cloud formations

Cumulonimbus Capillatus

Stratocumulus Lenticularis

Cirrus Intortus

Cirrus Uncinus

Cirrus Aviaticus

Also known as a contrail.  These are made from the passage of an airplane.

Cirrostratus Undulatus

Stratus Fractus

A tag along cloud remnant that is not a part of the main body of clouds.  Here the low hanging cloud is the Stratus Fractus.

Cumulus Castelanus

Growing up with several towers it looks like a castle made of clouds.

These cloud types you have just browsed through, you see they have additional modifiers.

• Capillatus – Cumulonimbus cloud with cirriform top.
• Calvus – Cumulonimbus with puffy rounded top.
• Incus – Cumulonimbus with flat anvil-like top.
• Pileus – Small cap-like cloud over a cumulonimbus cloud.
• Mammatus – Cumulonimbus with bubbles on the underside.
• Arcus – Low, horizontal cloud formation that precedes a thunderstorm.
• Congestus – moderate development and heaped into cauliflower shapes.
• Fibratus – thin fibrous type clouds.
• Nebulosus – indistinct cloud without features.
• Fractus – a fractured appearance.
• Uncinus – hook shaped.
• Intortus –all twisted up.
• Lacunosus – open spots and ragged edges.

This is by no means a complete list.  But I hope you enjoyed the tour.

And last but not least, one of my favorites because it usually sparks calls regarding UFOs the Lenticular.

Lenticular Wave Cloud