Please help a novice identify a couple of clouds!

[Ruth Pauli]

Dear Cloud Appreciators,

Can any experts please help me to identify the clouds in the two pictures below?

I am wondering if/hoping that the first one could be a Kelvin-Helmholtz cloud (the ‘waves’ just above the roof of the house), but perhaps I am getting carried away, since this was one of the very first clouds I saw after joining CAS.

I thought the second one could be lacunosus, or perhaps fallstreak holes. (There were a lot of ‘holes’ in the clouds just before I took this picture, but two of them became much larger to form this ‘angry chicken face’ cloud formation).

[Hans Stocker]

Welcome Ruth. Nice pictures. I will try to help.

On the first one I see a nice altocumulus undulatus, so unfortunately no fluctus or Kelvin Helholtz in my opinion.

The second one reminded me of the Cloud of the Month February 2021 (the most recent one).
February Cloud of the Month

High in the middle I see three fallstreak holes in what seems to be cirrocumulus. That’s what your spotting has in common with the Cloud of the Month in February. Middle left there are more of them. Close to the horizon the thicker patch of clouds might be altocumulus.

I’d say this is a nice capture. Well spotted! I wish you lots of fun with cloudspotting.

[Ruth Pauli]

Thank you very much for your help, Hans. You are right that the second one does look like the February cloud of the month, so thanks for directing me to that post. It’s a shame that the first one is not Kelvin Helmholtz, but hopefully I’ll be lucky one day!

[Steven strick]

Ruth, I am amazed that you know so much so soon after joining CAS. You mentioned “Kelvin-Helmholtz” and  “lacunosus”, or perhaps “fallstreak holes”. Heck, I still don’t know what those are. Good work!

[Author]

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