Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025, was a very windy day. A sharp cold front was crossing Lake Huron. The isobaric gradient in the warm sector ahead of that front was tightening up considerably as a result. The mild temperatures and the wind made it a pleasant time to sit in the
red chairs by
Jim Day Rapids and enjoy the passing clouds. It was 12 minutes after 4 pm, and "
Happy Hour" had already begun when these particular clouds came into view. I spent a couple of hours just enjoying the wind and the weather with no biting bugs.
Southwesterly
Langmuir Streets of
cumulus were aligned with those blustery winds. The spacing between these cloud lines is directly proportional to the height of the unstable air in the mixed layer of atmosphere adjacent to the Earth. These cloud streets get further apart as the convective instability in the air mass increases. The cloud tops also get colder as they reach higher in the atmosphere, so the spacing of the Langmuir Streets can also be related to cloud top temperature. This is easily witnessed on an
Infrared satellite image.
Of course, the science and meteorology need to get a little more complex to adequately explain the details of the clouds as seen from the surface and the satellite. There is always something to be learned and appreciated from watching nature.
The scene in front of me was changing by the minute. My photographic inspiration could not capture even a small part of the nuances that I observed. White caps on the lake waxed and waned with the wind. The atmosphere moves in waves, and minutes of stronger winds were separated by relative lulls. The lake surface and white caps responded appropriately.
The following image from another day illustrates gravity waves along a single Langmuir Streak. Surface winds decrease as "F"-E-D from wave peak to wave trough (relative ascent) cross your location and then increase as the D-C-B portion of the gravity wave (relative descent) approaches. The descending air carries the momentum of the flow from above with it to the surface.
The size and spacing of the backlit cumulus cloud elements also varied considerably. Larger cumuli were associated with the ascending portion of the atmospheric waves. Small clouds resided in the relative downdrafts of the wave pattern. The wave patterns could be seen in the cloud tops displayed in the satellite imagery.
Severe convection was remotely possible along the approaching cold front further to the north. For Singleton, the cold front would just be a wind shift and the arrival of cooler
Arctic air.
The subtleties of nature can mostly be explained through science, but sometimes it is enough to simply observe and appreciate the beauty of everyday events.
If the weather really wanted to communicate a threat to us, it might use
Morse code. The universal distress signal "
SOS" is a continuous sequence of three dots, three dashes, and three dots, with no spaces between the letters. The dash is three times longer than a dot. The size of the white cumulus clouds and white caps on the waves could be related to either an emergency dot or dash. I had some fun hiding "SOS" within my brush strokes.
The following "
in progress" images reveal a few of the steps I take with every painting.
The weather has actually been sending out obvious "SOS" signals for decades. Collectively, these emergency requests have been spelled out in the changing climate. Mindless denial of these truths by politicians and those who profit from the fossil fuel industries has squandered the past century, essential years required for meaningful action to avert this existential climate crisis. These deeds have been well documented. Shame.
Nature is always right. Science, our understanding of the natural world has steadily improved since we crawled out of our caves. Human empathy and honesty need some serious work, though.
Planting trees, building habitats and painting the living Earth is my simple way to try to make a difference. Observations of nature teach me something new every day, while I strive to keep my carbon footprint as small as possible. Even making chilli sauce can be a learning experience.
For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection.
Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,
