Category Archives: weather

In ancient times, pileus was the name of a brimless felt cap worn first by Greek sailors and then by Roman freed slaves. The word is now applied to the cap of a mushroom and the cloud that forms over … Continue reading →

I am a fan of rainbows. It is a rare bow that I will not record. Last evening’s bow was grand: well defined primary and secondary bows along with Alexander’s dark band (the dark region between the bows). Plus, this … Continue reading →

  A small change in the Lake’s level has produced a big response in the quantity of floating debris. For three days, the level drifted down some thirty centimetres. Then last night it came up five centimetres. The Lake suddenly … Continue reading →

We don’t have just one way of estimating the distance to an object; we have many. When objects are nearby, we use our stereo vision to judge spacial distribution. Beyond ten meters or so, we need other clues. If we know the … Continue reading →

The elements raged: Thursday afternoon brought lightning, thunder, graupel, strong west winds, waves, and best of all, clapotis gaufré. Clapotis is derived from the French, le clapotis, meaning standing waves. Gaufré means waffled. So, together it describes a waffled pattern of … Continue reading →

Today the cirrus contained columnar ice crystals, rather than plates. This meant no circumhorizontal arc, but other haloes compensated. At noon, for a few weeks around the summer solstice I watch for the circumhorizontal arc. This is a really very … Continue reading →

The late Jack Morris of Kaslo had a rule of thumb about high water on Kootenay Lake. He would watch a patch of snow on the mountainside and he claimed that the spring flood would crest just as that snow … Continue reading →