Cool Clouds

[Friends just call me Ross]

I love looking at clouds.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there is a whole society of fellow cloud  afficienados.

The Cloud Appreciation Society

 

I also discovered that, very recently, a new cloud was designated:

Asperatus Clouds 
( Undulatus Asperatus )

 

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Asperatus — the first "new" type of cloud in decades — is about to get the recognition it deserves in the latest edition of the International Cloud Atlas, the world's top reference book for clouds.

 

The latest cloud species is dubbed "undulatus asperatus" — aka "agitated waves" — and looks like a surreal undulating blanket that covers part or all of the sky.

While obviously not a "new" cloud, asperatus has only been able to gain widespread attention with the advent of digital cameras, the Internet and social media.

 

The proposed formal definition of the cloud is: "A formation made up of well-defined, wavelike structures in the underside of the cloud ... characterized by localized waves in the cloud base, either smooth or dappled with smaller features, sometimes descending into sharp points, as if viewing a roughened sea surface from below. Varying levels of illumination and thickness of cloud can lead to dramatic visual effects."

 

The campaign for a new cloud was originally spurred by the Cloud Appreciation Society, a group of 30,000 weather enthusiasts based in England. Cloudspotters have been taking photos of the cloud for the past few years, including a 2006 photo by Jane Wiggins of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that went viral online, said Gavin Pretor-Pinney, president of the society.
 

 

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This animation of undulatus asperatus was uploaded to Imgur and is a gif of the video taken by Alex Schueth. 
 

Undulatus asperatus, which means "agitated waves," was originally submitted to the WMO in 2009 by the Cloud Appreciation Society. The Cloud Appreciation Society petitioned the WMO, asking for a new classification for the cloud since "photographs of this cloud formation had been sent in by Society members over the years, and we’d never known quite how to classify them since we felt that they didn’t easily fit into the existing cloud terms."   http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2015/06/20/asperatus-cloud-atlas/28994525/

 

[Friends just call me Ross]

Asperatus clouds cont....

 

The first photo above is over Scotland.

Here are some more

 

Over Chicago

 

Over Kentucky, Ohio

 

Over New Zealand

 

I've never seen these clouds before.

But their beauty, like the beauty of other clouds, brings glory to their Creator.

[tekmantwo]

14 minutes ago, Friends just call me Ross said:

I love looking at clouds.

 

That is beautiful! ...

That rolling scene in the bottom GIF is just so cool....it would be neat to do some cloud dancin in a little aircraft,  like an old Waco or a Pitts Special. ..

[Tortuga]

..its like playing peek-a-boo with the angels...

[Omoyeme]

I love that last photo; absolutely stunning!