Cloud Types « WJAC-TV Weather Blog

Discovery Launch Leads To Cool Clouds

By Tim Tender on April 7th, 2010 at 10:52 AM

Noctilucent Cloud after Launch - courtesy: Spaceweather.com

The space shuttle Discovery lifted off on Monday and while the liftoff was uneventful, the sky told a different story. Take a look at the pictures below and read what Jonathan Sabin of Ellenton, Florida had to say about the launch…

I’ve seen some truly spectacular Space Shuttle launches since the Columbia first rocketed into space in 1981, but the launch of STS-131 was in a whole new category. Standing alone at the edge of a deserted cow pasture, I watched in awe as the craft first appeared over a line of trees about a quarter mile away… and as it ascended towards space, was transfixed by the sight of a towering back-lit column of exhaust. And THEN… about half a minute or so after the SRBs separated, a plume appeared around the craft itself, and the view changed into something that I had never witnessed before. A moving, nebulous “blob” that expanded and twisted as the Shuttle arched its way back toward the horizon as it continued into orbit.

It truly is an amazing sight. There are more pictures, too. I’ve posted a couple of them below.

UPDATE: I received an e-mail from Jonathan with a link to more pictures on his Flickr page. Take a look. There are some pictures that he didn’t send to spaceweather.com, too.

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Time’s 50 Best Inventions of 2009

By Tim Tender on November 15th, 2009 at 9:36 PM

Time Magazine recently released its list of the 50 Best Inventions of 2009.� Some are cool and some make you ask what the heck.� There’s at least one that’s directly related to weather.� Here’s a few highlights…

The Smart Thermostat works with appliances in your home to tell you how much money you’re spending.

[...]

Scary Looking Clouds

By Tim Tender on August 28th, 2009 at 9:12 PM

Scary Looking Clouds, or SLCs for short, are clouds that look scary but have a bark that’s worse than the bite.� The National Weather Service in Milwaukee started something called the ‘Scary Looking Cloud Club’ and they’re encouraging people to send in their pictures of scary clouds.

Here’s a picture of one of the [...]

…and Neither Are These!

By Tim Tender on August 24th, 2009 at 11:11 AM

What’s up with the clouds recently? It seems like everywhere you look, there are new, weird, or odd-looking clouds. Yesterday, I reported on the Undulus Asperatus clouds and today, there was a report on wired.com about something called Morning Glory clouds.

Click into the post to see a picture and get a link to the article on wired.com.

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These Aren’t Your Parents’ Clouds!

By Tim Tender on August 23rd, 2009 at 9:29 PM

Back in 1951, the World Meteorological Organization added a new cloud to its gallery of clouds. It was called ‘cirrus intortus’ and that was the last one to be added to the list.

Now, it’s come time to add another one to the gallery…

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Noctilucent Clouds

By Tony Martin on July 13th, 2009 at 8:26 PM

Say what? Well, the name “noctilucent” in Latin means night shining. These clouds are very common in Europe, especially in a year of decreased solar activity (like 2009). Here’s a photo (courtesy of Jan Koeman of Kloetinge, The Netherlands):

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Weather Photos!

By Tony Martin on June 30th, 2009 at 9:17 PM

Here’s some cool pics sent in from Donna of Berlin. These were taken Friday evening with a thunderstorm in the distance:

�

Keep those weather picture coming! Send them to [...]

Ice in the Sky!

By Tony Martin on June 15th, 2009 at 9:03 PM

Check out this cool phenomenon, courtesy of spaceweather.com and photographer Odd Hoydalsvik of Norway:

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A Sunset

By WJAC Weather on April 20th, 2009 at 10:04 PM

I have an older sunset to offer – interesting due to the cloud formation.� OK – sunsets are common but hey – every one is different!� Have uploaded a pic – seems it is in gallery – not sure how to link or display!� (edit by TT: Gallery uploaded!)

#gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item {
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 33%;
}
#gallery-1 img {
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
}
#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {
margin-left: 0;
}

One of many satisfying sunsets

The Office – Dwight's Cloud Analysis

By WJAC Weather on January 24th, 2009 at 10:12 PM

Well, I was watching NBC’s ‘The Office’ on Thursday night (which is one of my favorite shows) and thought it was pretty awesome when Dwight and Michael had an exchange about clouds.�

You can watch the clip in question here.

Here’s what� WTOV had to say about the exchange…

While watching one of [...]