In Plaquemine, Louisiana, US, Larry Smith (Member 57,002) watched a quiet drama unfold from his own front yard, as Altocumulus perlucidus virga were lit up by the setting Sun.

These mid-level clumps of cloud (which we call Altocumulus) with gaps that let the pale evening sky shine through (a form known as perlucidus) were, in some cases, showing trails of falling moisture dissipating away before reaching the ground (cloud features we call virga). The virga streaks were being blown almost horizontally in the strong shearing effect of differing winds within and below the Altocumulus. This pink-gold lighting would have shifted dynamically on Larry’s celestial scene as the Sun dipped beyond a distant bank of dark Stratocumulus.

We cloudspotters know well that the sky provides a theatre on our own doorsteps. Admission costs no more than a shift of perspective. For this performance, everyone has a front-row seat.