Curdled clouds

rounder, softer, bobblier

It seems to be the season for a mackerel sky. Here’s a snap I took yesterday:

A ‘mackerel’ sky with the sun nearly breaking through, creating rainbow-like colours on the clouds around it (I’m not sure if this was the sky or how my camera lens was dealing with it). Blue sky behind and dark-green trees and shrubs in the foreground.

According to weather-bible the Met Office:

these cirrocumulus cloudlets are usually made up of both ice and ‘supercooled’ water. This means that the water remains a liquid, even at temperatures well below 0°C. They form when turbulent vertical currents meet a cirrus layer, creating the puffy cumulus shape.

That one quote sent me down many different thought- and hyperlink-filled paths:

• Firstly: ‘cloudlet’. ! Come on, that is pretty cute. Coincidentally, I learnt this week through a project I’m working on that a small medal is called a ‘medalet’.

• Secondly: both ice and ‘supercooled’ water (aka not-quite-ice?). It’s been a week of ‘learning science’ actually: my partner received a gift in the post that was packaged using dry ice which, we found out, is solid carbon dioxide. And yet, is environmentally neutral … so my limited research tells me.

• Thirdly, the Met-Office mini definitions (definitionlets?) of ‘cirrus’ and ‘cumulus’ are:

  • Latin: cirrus – lock or tuft of hair

    Shape: layered, tufty or patchy

  • Latin: cumulus – heap

    Shape: cauliflower of fluffy

• Fourthly: ‘puffy’. That’s a more accurate description than mackerely.

I’ve always thought ‘mackerel’ sky is kind of a funny name for it. A nice-sounding word, yes, but not a satisfying enough metaphor for how it looks; the clouds are rounder, softer, bobblier, as shown in another photo, this time one I took almost exactly a year ago:

A classic blue sky with bobbly clouds fills the image frame. In the foreground: the top-left corner is clipped by a slate-covered side of a house with a red-brick chimney.

I Wikipediaed mackerel sky and found some better descriptions:

It is sometimes known as a buttermilk sky, particularly when in the early cirrocumulus stage, in reference to the clouds’ ‘curdled’ appearance. In France it is sometimes called a ciel moutonné (fleecy sky); and in Spain a cielo empedrado (cobbled sky); in Germany it is known as Schäfchenwolken (sheep clouds), and in Italy the clouds are described as a pecorelle (like little sheep).

All of these options are, in my opinion, a better fit for how it looks. Bobbly, cobbly, cuddly, buttery, fluffy, and fleecy, just like my favourite cosy jacket:

A close-up image of my fave fleecy jacket (got it in Sainsbury’s, mate) with a dusky-pink zip-up pocket.

By the way, I took this jacket photo without noticing that it has a similar composition to the photo above it, of the clouds and the house. (I photographed and cropped it that way because it has a coffee stain a little further along on the pocket). As soon as I added it into this post I noticed the similarity of the ‘clouds and corner’ layout, and now I kind of want to retake it to get them to match exactly … but, now is not the time for perfectionism: it’s too dark to get a good photo, and I want to go and make a nighttime tea and watch some telly.

As well as the Olympics, I’ve been watching The Gold on iPlayer. I think it’s a year or so old, so not the ‘latest thing,’ but it’s pretty good … though I’m not sure it’s quite a recommendation yet. I fell asleep to the last episode (not necessarily a bad review, I was just mega tired, plus Hugh Bonneville sure does have a comforting voice, doesn’t he?), so probably the next half hour will just be me trying to skip back until I find the place that might be the right place to pick up from. Actually, thinking of Hugh Bonneville and the Olympics: Twenty Twelve (from twelve years ago) is certainly a recommendation to watch if you haven’t seen it (and rewatch if you have).

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