Mackerel sky
| Mackerel sky | |
|---|---|
|
Altocumulus mackerel sky | |
| Abbreviation | Ac |
| Symbol |
 |
| Genus |
Alto- (mediumhigh) -cumulus (heaped) |
| Appearance | Clumps and rolls of clouds that resemble mackerel scales |
| Precipitation cloud? | No, but may signify approaching precipitation. |
A mackerel sky is a common term for a sky with rows of cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds displaying an undulating, rippling pattern similar in appearance to fish scales;[1][2] this is caused by high altitude atmospheric waves.[3]
Cirrocumulus appears almost exclusively with cirrus some way ahead of a warm front and is a reliable forecaster that the weather is about to change.[4] When these high clouds progressively invade the sky and the barometric pressure begins to fall, precipitation associated with the disturbance is likely about 6 to 12 hours away. A thickening and lowering of cirrocumulus into middle-étage altostratus or altocumulus is a good sign the warm front or low has moved closer and it may start raining within less than six hours.[5] The old rhymes "Mackerel sky, not twenty-four hours dry"[3] and "Mares' tails and mackerel scales make lofty ships to carry low sails"[6] both refer to this long-recognized phenomenon.
Other phrases in weather lore take mackerel skies as a sign of changeable weather. Examples include "Mackerel sky, mackerel sky. Never long wet and never long dry", and "A dappled sky, like a painted woman, soon changes its face".[4]
It is sometimes known as a buttermilk sky, particularly when in the early cirrocumulus stage, in reference to the clouds' "curdled" appearance.[7] In France it is sometimes called a ciel moutonné (fleecy sky); and in Spain a cielo empedrado (cobbled sky);[8] in Germany it is known as Schäfchenwolken (sheep clouds).
In culture
Peter Paul Reubens' A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning (c.1636) features the first convincing depiction of a mackerel sky in art.
"Ole Buttermilk Sky" by Hoagy Carmichael was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1946.
Gallery
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Mackerel sky over Erlangen, Germany
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Mackerel sky over Heidelberg, Germany
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Altocumulus clouds. |
- ↑ Downing, L. L. (2013). Metereology of Clouds. p. 154.
- ↑ Ahrens, C. Donald; Henson, Robert (2015). Metereology Today. Cengage Learning. p. 153.
- 1 2 Wong, Chi-wai. "Mackerel sky, not twenty-four hours dry". Hong Kong Observatory.
- 1 2 "Ontario Regional Marine Guide". Environment Canada.
- ↑ "Mackerel sky". Weather Online. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
- ↑ "Making heads of mares' tails". NASA Earth Data.
- ↑ Klocek, Dennis (2010). Climate: Soul of the Earth. SteinerBooks. p. 32.
- ↑ Hamblyn, Richard (2011). The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies. Pan Macmillan. p. 240.
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