#3047 "September 17th Warm Frontal Cloud"

#3047 "September 17th Warm Frontal Cloud" 
8 X 10 oil on canvas.
Started September 17th, 2026.

It was my Dad's birthday, and I decided to quietly remember one of the very best people in my life. He and others who comprised the Greatest Generation provided the peace and security necessary for democracy, without which the creation of art would be challenging. He would have loved the Singleton Sanctuary - surrounded by nature. 

A frontal system was sprawled west to east across Lake Ontario. There were hints of undulatus asperatus (officially called asperitas) clouds shaking in the stable layer of the warm frontal surface. The clouds can look really dramatic at sunrise or sunset as a wave-like ceiling that looks like the surface of a rough ocean viewed from underwater. This painting was really about that atmospheric ocean. 

Asperitas clouds are distinct cloud formations that resemble ocean wind waves and swells billowing in a stable sheet across the sky. The World Meteorological Organization officially added them to the International Cloud Atlas as a supplementary feature in 2017, making them the first new cloud classification added in over 50 years. 

Frontal surfaces typically provide the stable layer that can shake like a sheet on a clothesline when exposed to strong winds and wind shear. The shallow 1:200 slope of typical, slow-moving warm frontal surfaces provides a more extensive "sheet" and opportunity for the best examples of asperitas clouds. Cold frontal surfaces are typically steeper, with a slope of 1:50 and move faster, propelled by the push of the cold air. 

I have painted Asperitas clouds several times over the years, well before they were named. I simply referred to them as dramatic gravity waves on a stable layer. I agree that "Asperitas" sounds more academic. See #2510 "Singleton Asperitas" and #2550 "Portsmouth Harbour Asperitus". There are certainly other examples within my portfolio that might not include "Asperitas" in the title.  

Subtle variations in colours included on the canvas came and went with the morning light. The lake was like glass and called to me. The canoe would go for a ride after this morning painting session was complete. The following collage depicts the plein air experience that is hard to match in the Studio. Sometimes, something intangible gets onto the canvas from the atmosphere of the inspiration. 

I use art and science to stay current as I try to better appreciate nature and the beauty of the Earth. The existential threats to nature continue to escalate. The science of the climate crisis began in the early 1800s and has only improved with better satellite sensing technology. Some of the irreversible tipping points have been thoroughly investigated.  Uncertainty in the complex interactions of the planet still exists, especially among those striving for exhaustive enlightenment on the informed extreme of the Dunning-Kruger Graph. Many of those have been described in my Art and Science posts over the years. 

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is of special concern! The AMOC is the system of currents that transport heat and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico to Europe. Fresh meltwater from Greenland is floating on the North Atlantic, resulting in the weakening of the three-dimensional currents that are powered by gravity. Those currents could collapse, bringing “ice age” winters to Europe, raising sea levels in North America and messing with the Asian monsoons. The AMOC did shut down after the meltwater of the last ice age 11,000 years ago.  

Direct oceanographic arrays (such as RAPID measurements) and long-term climate proxy studies consistently confirm that the AMOC has entered a weakened state. Reconstructions suggest the AMOC is currently at its weakest state in over 1,000 years. AMOC has slowed down 20% since the 1950’s and 14% since the 1990’s!! Flow decreases approaching 40% will flip on its head in the next 40-50 years! 

There is still a lot of uncertainty, but that is no reason to do nothing...

The chain reaction of burning fossil fuels and putting Pandora's Gift Box of carbon back into the atmosphere started in the 1850s. The rate of carbon release continues to escalate with no signs of any abatement, as illustrated in the above graphic. Total greenhouse gas forcing in terms of CO2 equivalence (573 ppm) is even more startling when the impacts of water vapour, methane and other related gases are added.

The impacts will be catastrophic beyond human comprehension. Some research suggests that the AMOC tipping point is centuries away; some think decades, while others feel that the Earth has already crossed that line. The exact truth will not be known until it happens, and then of course, it will be far too late. 

The scientific fact is that we still do not have all of the answers. The simulations and models are certainly incomplete and inaccurate. There’s no precedent for what’s happening, and the Earth is warming much faster than we ever thought possible. But we continue to study and learn!

One must stay current to have an informed opinion. The graphs are the scientific and observational truth. I share that information freely with my art, choosing to speak while the corrupt flout the laws of society, buying votes and bullying nations. The pillars of society - Justice, Equity, Freedoms, and Representation embodied by the Legislative, Executive, Judiciary, and Media, are being intentionally destroyed (or simply purchased) as the billionaires seek world dominance.  The solutions are well known - as are the perpetrators.

D.N. Chadwick was a voracious reader and lover of nature. He was humbly wise and self-educated. Not a billionaire, but far richer, surrounded by nature. His quiet and calm character exuded far more integrity than any politician I have ever known. People like my father provided this generation with the freedoms that we enjoy and are carelessly squandering. 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick