Cloud Appreciation Society member, Deepak Chowdhury has recently published a Limited Edition Art Collection entitled “A Walk in the Clouds”

It consists of ninety plates of original photographs taken during his travels to different corners of the world.

You can see a video version of the book here

Chris Jackson of Wellington drew our attention to this strange cloud formation that was seen over Island Bay.

Lenticular clouds or Altocumulus standing lenticularis, like this one are stationary clouds that result from strong winds over rugged terrain and form at high altitudes.

Lenticular clouds are common around the Wellington region. They can generally be seen over Mt Orongorongo in the Rimutaka Range.

You can see the full article here

Nicky Schroder, member 8032 has drawn our attention to this article in the BBC news.

This unconventional structure was originally envisaged as a centre piece of London’s Olympic village and has been shortlisted in a competition set up by London Mayor Boris Johnson who has committed to build a tourist attraction in the Olympic Park “with a legacy for the east end of London”

The giant “digital cloud” would “float” above the London skyline and would include 120m tall mesh towers and a series of interconnected plastic bubbles used to display images and data.

The Cloud, as it is known, would also be used as an observation deck and park.

Funds to build The Cloud would be raised by ‘micro-donations’ from millions of people. “It’s really about people coming together to raise the Cloud,” Carlo Ratti, one of the architects behind the design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) told the BBC.

“We can build our Cloud with £5m or £50m. The flexibility of the structural system will allow us to tune the size of the Cloud to the level of funding that is reached.”

The size of the structure will evolve depending on the number of contributions, he said.

For more information about The Cloud and how to make a donation can be found here

Corina Duyn, a member of the Cloud Appreciation Society has written to let us know that she has published a book entitled “Cirrus Chronicles – Landing in Ballynelligan”.

It is a story about a Cloud Fairy who lives on Cloud Nine, and lands by accident in Ballynelligan, near Lismore in Ireland. It is Magic Realism for ages 8-10 and for all the other children between 4 and 104!

You see sample pages of the book and purchase it through her website

We were sent a photo of a luminous ring-shaped cloud hovering over the Kremlin in Moscow recently. A video of this cloud was posted on YouTube and it soon became a world news story, prompting many to claim that it was of a supernatural nature or a UFO or some sinister government-sponsored experiment.

The story appeared in newspapers around the world, all of which reported the exact same story (e.g. in the UK: The Sun, The Daily Mail, Metro; in the US: New York Daily News; in China: China Daily News). An unnamed Russian meteorologists was quoted, saying ‘This is a purely optical effect, although it does look impressive.’

We are stunned that no one knows that this is a straightforward and fairly common cloud formation, called a fallstreak hole. It is not an optical effect, nor is there anything paranormal about it. We wrote a Cloud of the Month about it a few years back. There are tonnes of photos of fallstreak holes on our photo gallery, sent in by members.

Have journalists stopped bothering to ask questions before printing a story? Can the so-called meteorologist really not know that fallstreak holes form quite regularly all around the world? Clearly, our mission to persuade the world to look up and notice the clouds is far from over.

Noctilucent clouds float much higher than other clouds, allowing them to shine when the sun is below the horizon.

The New Scientist reports that an experiment aimed at creating an artificial noctilucent cloud at the edge of space could shed light on the mysterious high-altitude objects. At the end of September a rocket was launched to create the artificial cloud.

To read the full report, view the gallery and see a video of the experiment click here

The Ocean Youth Trust are a youth charity dedicated to getting young people out on the water sailing and have a 68 foot oyster ketch Lord Rank on which they do it.

They are now offering cloud watching sailing trips with a discount for Cloud Appreciation Society members. To make a voyage viable the Trust would need 12 people who would like to take part. This can be for an afternoon, day, or longer depending on what you are interested in doing. If you are intested please contact the Trust directly and they will collate the enquiries into a database and once they reach 12 they will then identify the voyage date for that group.

Ben Craig (Youth Development Coordinator) of the Ocean Youth Trust Ireland said “We are of course very interested in clouds as weather dictates when and where we can go with our yacht, so we would love to have a group of people onboard who care as much about the weather as we do.”

If you are interested in taking part please contact Ben via their website www.oyti.org

Russ Clark of Arizona, USA was sent this video by his daughter who lives in the LA Basin.

The footage was shot by Dan Black from his vantage point at Tarzana, California.

Gavin Pretor- Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society advises us that it shows a pyrocumulus cloud — a sort of cloud that can form over forest fires, due to all the heat and moisture that they throw up into the atmosphere.

The full video can be seen here

An art project exploring the process of ‘cloud seeding’.

Australian Newspapers cover recent sightings of the Morning Glory Clouds.

The technical names for cloud formations are conventionally Latin words chosen to match characteristic shapes but The Chambers Dictionary knows that there are other ways of talking about clouds.

In their latest blog they talk about ‘goats hair’ and ‘mairs-tails’ and the poetry of clouds as used by Joni Mitchell and Shakespeare…

They also make reference to the new cloud classification. It is a shame though that they didn’t talk more about the use of clouds as a negative metaphor in English especially since this is the sort of thing we need to stand up against!

You can read the full blog here

Lifesquared have just made their new leaflet “10 Things to do instead of shopping” available as a free download for a limited period.

They have included a mention of Cloudspotting. The leaflet can be downloaded here

Cloud Appreciation Society member Robert Woodward, an amateur photographer, has just recently created a photography book called “Clouding About” which contains various cloudscape photographs taken over the past year and a half, at different places around the world.

Robert says “It is by no means a completely polished piece of work but I would like to do some shameless promotion to fellow cloud lovers and if possible get some votes for the competition that it’s in”.

He points out that this version will become a collectors edition and won’t be in print for very long.

To see more about this book and cast your vote please visit here

WORKSHOPS, TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS 8th to 23rd August 2009…

This summer the National Trust’s Tattershall Castle will be dramatically transformed by a team of exceptional artists including video makers, textile printers and landscape designers. Newly commissioned art works will spread throughout the building’s vast empty paces including the turreted rooftop and gardens.

Cloud Spotting
On Sunday, 16th August, Ian Loxley the Photo Gallery Editor for the Cloud Appreciation Society will take you on an informal tour of the afternoon sky. You will learn how to identify the common cloud types as well as many rare and unusual clouds. A gentle paced walk and talk, this is an opportunity to relax, look up and marvel at the Lincolnshire sky.
2pm – 3pm FREE. Booking essential – please call 01526 342543 to book a place or view details of other events here

Partly Cloudy is the new short film by Pixar. It was directed by Peter Sohn a Pixar animator who also provided the voice for Emile in Ratatouille.

The story revolves around Gus, a grey cloud who, with the other cloud people, creates the babies that the stork delivers to earth. He specialises in scultping ‘dangerous’ babies and as his creations become more and more lively his stork partner, Peck, has to work harder and harder…

Read a review here

We all agree that clouds add beauty and interest to the sky – but what about the clouds we can’t see?

Sub-visible cirrus clouds cover approximately 80% of the tropical Western Pacific but are too faint to be seen from the ground. Scientists need Lidar (laser-based radar) and other instruments to track them although they may be seen edge-on as a faint presence from the air.

As these clouds are not currently used in models for climate change meteorologists need to answer the question of how these huge, invisible clouds affect infra-red radiation.

Read the full article on Subvisible Clouds on the Guardian website.

Russia’s Sarychev Peak Volcano erupted for the first time in 20 years on 12th June 2009. This photograph was taken by the Astronauts aboard the International Space Station who where flying directly overhead.

It has been called one of the most dramatic Earth-science photo’s ever taken from space and shows the pillar of ash punching a massive hole in the cloud layer. The misty ‘cap’ on the ash plume is thought to be water condensing from air shoved upward by the rising ash column, similar to the iridescent pileus clouds.

You can read the full article on the spaceweather.com website.

We have recently been sent some interesting links from one of our members.

The new Wolfram|Alpha computational knowledge engine can give give information about clouds. For example nimbostratus, cumulis and cirrus information and weather and meteorology

A great information source for enthusiasts everywhere.

On May 23, 2009 over Wantagh, New York a cone of water vapor surrounds an F/A-18F Super Hornet airplane as it approaches the sound barrier during the New York Air Show at Jones Beach State Park.

Rings like this can form as an aircraft traveling low over the water nears the speed of sound. Pressure created by sound waves squeezes moisture from the air, creating the “artificial cloud.”

See the full story here

Cloud Appreciation Society member, Keijo Rikala, has sent us details of an exhibition to be held in Espoo near Helsinki.

From 5 June to 13 September 2009 at the Gallen-Kallela Museum, the summer exhibition will lead visitors to the sources of meteorological phenomena. It particularly focuses on clouds and their numerous forms. The exhibition offers a journey from horizons glowing red with the setting sun as depicted by Finnish romantic artists to foreboding thunder clouds, fantasy scenes and personal moods.

Visit the Museum website for full details.

The LABORATORIA Art & Scient Space invite you to the opening of CLOUD HARP by Nicolas Reeves in Moscow at LABORATORIA Art&Science Space on July 2.

LABORATORIA is the first nonprofit research centre in Russia focused on constructing the platforms of interdisciplinary interaction between contemporary art and science.

The Cloudspotter’s Guide has recently been translated into Russian and the CLOUD HARP was mentioned in it.

Besides the CLOUD HARP itself LABORATORIA will have an exhibition, CLOUD ATLAS which is supposed to give the holistic view on clouds and the cloudspotting. Artists as well as scientists – aerologists, meteorologists, physicists and glider pilots have been invited to share their professional and personal views and attitudes on clouds.

The more we learn about it the more we are fascinated by the beatiful and complicated world of clouds.

Visit the LABORATORIA Art & Scient Space website here.

Cloud watcher Fiaz Kauser has sent us an article which discusses cloud formation in the Koran, a religious scripture dating back 1,400 years.

God has said in the Quran:

“Have you not seen how God makes the clouds move gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a stack, and then you see the rain come out of it….” (Quran, 24:43)

Read the full article here.

Cloud Appreciation Society member Giselle Goloy’s spectacular cloud photograph made the front page of a leading national daily newspaper in the Philippines earlier this year –

The same shot landed on the cover of the 2009 calendar produced by the Cloud Appreciation Society.

Read the full story here

….. whatever next!

Kikk.K is a Scandanavian designed stationery and gift supplier. They have recently launched and entire range of stationery inspired by Clouds. Its called the ‘Luft’ range which means ‘Air’ in Swedish.

There is a wide selection to choose from…

… which cloud are you?

Visit their website to see the full range.

Now is the ideal time to view Noctilucent clouds. These very high, and rather mysterious, clouds are at their best between June and August in the Northern Hemisphere. They are lit by sunlight in the middle of the night and tend to be a milky-blue and very thin so are only noticeable against the dark night sky. If you see them, you should report your observations Noctilucent Clouds Observer’s Group

You can see more of these clouds on the gallery page. And read more about them here

Craig Dremann, member number 14313 writes that dust clouds from the Gobi desert, may be helping to cause California drought. He adds that daily cloud pictures, taken this spring during the drought in California show the affects. This outline world map illustrates how the dust concentrations are supressing cloud formation.

You can read more about it here

It may not serve any booze, but the Cloud Bar on the beach at Anderby Creek in Lincolnshire, UK, has been sanctioned by The Cloud Appreciation Society as the world’s first ‘Official Clouspotting Area’. And, since it’s launch on 1 April 2009, it is now open to the cloudspotting public.

The Cloud Bar was the idea of artist, and CAS member, Michael Trainor. Replacing a disused beach shelter, the handsome wooden structure looks out to sea from this unspoilt stretch of the Lincolnshire coastline. On the viewing platform, are ‘Cloud Menus’ identifying the different formations, mirrors that can be swiveled to reflect different parts of the sky and specially designed cloud-viewing seats, on which visitors can recline and enjoy the view.

Local members of the Cloud Appreciation Society and Society photo gallery editor, Ian Loxley, attended the opening ceremony, in which BBC weatherman (and Society member), Paul Hudson, cut the blue ribbon. It was a shame that the event was rather marred by the weather: there was barely a cloud in the sky.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, its an Altocumulus lenticularis.

This UFO spotted over Wales in January 2009 came not from the other side of the Cosmos, but the other side of the Irish Sea.

Read all about it in the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.

A rather more dramatic visitation had arrived the month before in the vicinity of Mt Rainier in Washington State, US. Some photographs of this extra-terrestrial cloud event were sent into the society’s Cloud Gallery (e.g. here and here).

To learn about lenticularis clouds, which is what these were, you might like to look back at the Cloud of the Month for April 2005.

Get them into clouds from an early age.

Ann Dickinson, member 5007, emailed us to tell us about how to introduce clouds onto both your walls and onto your iPod.

The wall versions come in the form of removable stickers, called ‘Cloud Re-Stik‘, and are created by Blik Surface Graphics.

The iPod application, called iDaydream, allows you to create your own clouds in a virtual sky by swiping your finger over the screen to create little puffs. These cloudy creations then float across the sky and shift shapes in the breeze. You can control the wind direction, speed, and turbulence level to change the effects.

Clouds in 3D on your TV

For those of you who do not have a window, or who are wearing a neck brace and so are unable to look up, you can now watch clouds in 3D on your TV.

Artists Brian McClave and Gavin Peacock have produced ‘Cloud II’, a stereoscopic DVD, which you watch wearing some of those blue and red 3D glasses. Since they are artists, they have made DVD in a limited edition of 100, each individually numbered by hand.

You can buy a copy and see a clip from the DVD here:
http://www.themanfromicon.com/dvd/cloudII.html
Running time: 30 minutes. Format: DV-PAL, all regions

Listen again to Head in the Clouds on Radio 3

Tim Oxton emailed us to tell us five cloud programmes airing on BBC Radio 3, called ‘Head in the Clouds’. They are part of the series called The Essay, and go out every night at 23.00 (GMT) on Radio 3 from 23rd to 27th February 2009.

If you miss the broadcasts, you can listen again for the seven days following broadcast:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hw8vj/episodes/2009

Each is a lucid and enlightening insight into the cultural significance of clouds throughout civilisation.

Here’s another fun way to sharpen up your cloud recognition skills.

It’s one of life’s little ironies that one of the most stunning cloud sequences on film appears in a Nazi propaganda film.

Thanks to a certain lipstick pitbull, the long-running debate about whether we are responsible for climate change has been given some high-profile coverage.

Listening to the news yesterday, you might have been forgiven for thinking it was April 1st, not September 1st.

Here’s the perfect thing for cloud lovers looking for some light relief.

Fans of the Clouds That Look Like Things section of our world-famous photo gallery may want to check out the Environmental Graffiti website.

Do you sometimes confuse your cirrus with your altostratus?

Our American members, and intrepid international travellers, may care to drop in on a cloud-friendly exhibition in the Cape Cod area.

The fantastic photos taken by our members have helped make our cloud gallery famous throughout the world.