#2359 "Langmuir and Altocumulus"

Lines in the sky almost always seem to diverge to an observer on the ground. The truth is that they often do not spread apart at all. The optical illusion is a matter of perspective. Train tracks look like they diverge for the same reason. Crepuscular rays are a great example of this phenomenon. Langmuir-Streaks.html

The satellite view proves the point in this example of Langmuir streets that actually parallel the flow. Also note that the cumulus clouds only form in the areas absent of cirrus. The cirrus cloud was blocking that extra bit of heat energy required to get the cumulus thermals ascending and forming clouds.

The weather story was one of a large warm conveyor belt. Heavy rains would affect regions to the south. The cold low responsible for the weather pattern is typical of spring. This vertically stacked low was parked over Iowa. Rainfall was causing serious issues in the Appalachians.

Singleton Lake maybe got a drop or two of rain but that was all. Singleton was under the anticyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt. It was dry. There were some classic gravity waves embedded in the Langmuir streaks. The patch of altocumulus overhead was an anomaly probably due to a minor relative wind maximum in the anticyclonic flow giving a small area of lift. Meteorologists refer to the larger of these wind maxima as jet streaks. The gentle ascent in the atmosphere that results creates a patch of egg-carton clouds neatly arranges by the physics of nature. The back edge can also be explained by the jet streak conceptual model.

The songs in the James Taylor play list all seemed to be about the sky and daydreaming. They were perfect for my frame of mind as I had fun capturing another sky in oils. Classic. Art should be both fun and creative.

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