The society for people who love the sky

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Today's Cloud-a-Day

Saturday 14th December 2024

Caroline Bommer, the wife of German romantic landscape artist Caspar David Friedrich, once said of her husband, ‘The day he paints air, you must not talk to him!’ From this, we can gather that Friedrich took the depiction of clouds very se…

Cloud of the Month

December 2024

Many optical effects caused by clouds have a geometric and regularity, but not the corona. We embrace this often wonky light effect in Cloud of the Month for December...

Cloudspotting for Beginners

A collaboration with award-winning illustrator William Grill, Cloudspotting for Beginners is a stunning introduction to clouds and the sky. We are very proud of this beautiful hardback book. Charming, uplifting, and easy to understand for all ages, Cloudspotting for Beginners will inspire anyone curious about clouds to look up at the sky with a new understanding and appreciation.

Our Memory Cloud Atlas

On Cloud Appreciation Day, Friday September 13th, 2024, friends and members of the Cloud Appreciation Society contributed photographs of their skies to our Memory Cloud Atlas. The Atlas was open for contributions on this day only. It stands as a snapshot of a world looking up and appreciating the sky on one particular day.

Recent Clouds Spotted

New from our Members

Cloud Videos
Massimiliano Squadroni sent us this timelapse taken on ...
A sunset with crepuscular rays over Hickory, North Carolina, US.
Cloud Poetry
Sara Austin Bailey, member 50,249 sent us this ...
Cloud Music
Mike Midlo received a Cloud Selector Wheel as ...
Cloud Art
Martin Pilcher, Member 3,838, sent this painting and ...

A Survival Kit for the Imagination

Our downloadable lesson plans and resources for schools and homeschools teaching about the sky.

News

Lacunosus over Beaconsfield, United States

Why You Should Be Looking Up

Cloud Appreciation Society founder, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Member 001, was recently invited to join Amanda Yorwerth on the podcast, Environment Matters. They discussed all things cloudlike along with Cloud Appreciation Day which is coming up this Friday, 13th September.You can listen to the Environment Matters Podcast hereImage credit: Lacunosus over Beaconsfield, United States by Cheryl Lappin

Earth’s Jet Stream: Creating the Seeds that Generate Clouds

Clouds form when water vapour condenses or freezes around tiny particles, called cloud condensation nuclei, that are suspended in the atmosphere. These particles are hygroscopic, meaning they attract water. Examples of cloud condensation nuclei, also called cloud seeds, include dust, ocean salt, and sulfuric acid particles. Often, entirely new particles are formed in the atmosphere […]

EarthCARE: A New Satellite Getting to the Heart of Clouds

On May 28, 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) teamed up to launch a 3-year mission called EarthCARE in order to profile Earth’s clouds to see what effect they are having on climate change. Different cloud formations interact with sunlight in different ways. For example, the low, thick, […]