#2474 "Singleton Sunset Deformation Zone"

This winter sunset sky was classic. The sharp knife edge of the deformation zone stretched across the horizon. The sun was setting beyond the southernmost tip of Singleton Lake - where Mister Singleton parked his boat after rowing over to our shore to milk his cows. The colours of the sky and the reflection across Singleton Lake were what caught my eye. The patch of altocumulus in the otherwise clear skies ahead of the warm conveyor belt and the deformation zone, was a big part of the weather story. I had to record this scene in oils. 

The cloud edge of the deformation zone was drifting slowly southward. This meant that the col in the deformation zone pattern was further to the north beyond my painting. The anticyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt was aimed at Singleton with the bulk of the weather directed to head further to the north. This meant that the patch of altocumulus was associated with the paired cyclonic vorticity centre across the deformation zone from the dominant anticyclonic vorticity minimum, "N". The lift provided by the cyclonic swirl also explained why the altocumulus was there in the first place. 

I used my right hand and pointed it upward to explain the orientation of the Langmuir streaks and the gravity waves in that patch of altocumulus. All of the cloud pieces of the meteorological puzzle fit nicely together. Also notice the southerly edges of the altocumulus swirls were sharper than the northern edge. This was consistent with the southern drift of the entire cloud pattern in the same way that the edges of contrails are typically sharper on one side than the other. Refer to The Art and Science of Phil the Forecaster. 

There was a second higher and more distant deformation zone also evident in the clouds. I took some artistic license with the orientation of this deformation zone to aid with the composition of the painting. 

There was a large patch of open water at the head of Jim Day Rapids. This glassy surface amplified the intensity of the light from the setting sun and even reflected the top edge of the deformation zone cloud. The snow and ice were not nearly as good at reflecting the sunset sky. How lucky can a simple meteorologist get? 

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