#2340 "Sunset Stratocumulus After the Storm"

The heavy rain had moved away to the east. The next storm was still far away over the American Midwest.

Stratocumulus Cloud Streets

The northwesterly streets of stratocumulus were fading with the setting sun. It would be clear and cold overnight. The helical rolls were evident in the shreds of backlit cloud. The clouds were lined up in helical spirals in a manner that Irving Langmuir used to describe windrows of seaweed in the Sargasso Sea in 1927.

Langmuir Streaks

Rotten ice still covered the western basin of Singleton Lake. The eastern basin had been mainly ice free since early March. Langmuir streets in the open water were well developed in the surface westerly winds.

Atmosphere Ekman Spiral

This frictional veering of winds within the boundary layer of the earth is very familiar to meteorologists and is referred to as the Ekman spiral. These spirals can be found in all fluids. The Ekman spiral was first studied in reference to the ocean just like those bands of seaweed.

The atmosphere is just an ocean of air.
Every artistic observation can be a science lesson about the nature that surrounds us.

The porch light was on for my neighbor on the western shore of Singleton.

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