Category Archives: weather

  Uncinus is Latin for hooked and when applied to cirrus—itself Latin for a lock of hair—it nicely characterizes the cloud, below: formally, it is cirrus uncinus. A familiar name for these clouds is fallstreaks, for they are streaks of ice … Continue reading →

  I last saw frost flowers bloom along the shore of Kootenay Lake five years ago. Since then, watching for these delights has been rather like searching for a rarely blooming wild orchid. Frost flowers bloom under a rather narrow … Continue reading →

  I don’t understand why I don’t see (cloud) billows as often around here as I have seen them elsewhere. These billows are formed in a thin atmospheric layer where the temperature and wind change markedly with height. The airflow … Continue reading →

  Frazil ice is a collection of loose, randomly oriented flakes of ice in water. Frazil resembles slush and has the appearance of being slightly oily when seen on the surface of water.  In a recent posting, it was noted that … Continue reading →

  Ice is endlessly fascinating; its various forms are a frequent topic for this blog in the winter. As the air temperature now ranges between -15C and -10C, ice is making its appearance along the shoreline. It forms where the … Continue reading →

  An ancient mariner’s term for a breath of air that lightly brushes the water is a cat’s paw. The name implies the gentleness of the touch; it is a zephyr, a gentle gust of wind.  This would probably be … Continue reading →

  I was struck by the extensive and beautiful hoar frost covering a field of soft snow. Yet, the location of the frost was oddly selective: extensive on the snow, absent on adjacent ice and wood. Why might this be? … Continue reading →

  Now and then, usually in the winter, one sees some cloud that is strikingly blue. It is cloud that is only receiving direct illumination from the clear blue sky—neither from the Sun, nor higher clouds. I am always impressed … Continue reading →

  In which, something normally hidden is disclosed: a thin layer of snow reveals internal structure. The same is true of frost and dew. I first became aware of these things as a student when I discovered a book (Geiger, 1957, … Continue reading →