Different types of clouds

Clouds are formed when water vapor in the air condenses into visible water droplets or ice crystals. This can occur when moist air rises and cools, causing the water vapor to condense and form clouds.

There are many different types of clouds, but they can generally be classified into three main groups:

Low clouds: These clouds are typically found at altitudes up to about 6,500 feet and include stratus, stratocumulus, and cumulus clouds.

Middle clouds: These clouds are usually found between 6,500 and 20,000 feet and include altocumulus and altostratus clouds.

High clouds: These clouds are found at altitudes above 20,000 feet and include cirrus, cirrostratus, and cirrocumulus clouds.

In addition to these three main groups, there are also special clouds such as cumulonimbus clouds, which are tall and vertical and can produce thunderstorms, and lenticular clouds, which form in the lee of mountains and have a distinctive lens-like shape.

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Roadscape Photography
Chevrolet El Camino 1970
Life @ Loimaa, mostly Finnish

Once upon a time, there was a vast expanse of ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see. Above the ocean, the sky was a brilliant blue, and for the most part, it was empty except for the occasional bird that flew by. But one day, something miraculous began to happen.

As the sun began to rise and the day grew warmer, the heat from the sun began to evaporate the seawater, turning it into a mist that rose into the sky. At first, the mist was barely visible, but over time it grew thicker and denser until it formed a large mass that covered the sky.

As the mist rose higher into the atmosphere, it began to cool down, and as it did so, it began to condense into tiny droplets of water that floated in the air. These droplets began to clump together, first in small groups, then in larger and larger clusters until they became visible as clouds.

The clouds grew and took on various shapes and sizes, depending on the temperature and the amount of moisture in the air. Some were fluffy and oval-shaped, others long and wispy, while still, others were dark and thick and full of thunder and lightning.

As the winds blew across the sky, the clouds would move and shift, sometimes coming together to form a larger cloud or breaking apart into smaller ones. And as they drifted across the sky, they would provide much-needed shade for those below and bring much-needed rain to the parched land.

And so it is that, to this day, clouds continue to form and move across the sky, bringing with them the promise of life-giving rain and the cooling shade of their fluffy, white forms.

Stratoclouds, also known as stratus clouds, are low-lying, flat clouds that appear gray or white and cover most of the sky. They are typically found at altitudes of less than 6,500 feet and are formed from the cooling and condensation of moist air near the ground. Stratoclouds are often associated with stable weather conditions and can produce light rain or drizzle. They can also form as a result of air pollution, and their presence can be an indicator of poor air quality.

My other blogs:

Roadscape Photography
Chevrolet El Camino 1970
Life @ Loimaa, mostly Finnish

Sun halo

A sun halo is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that occurs when sunlight is refracted, or bent, by ice crystals in the atmosphere. When the sun's light enters an ice crystal, it is refracted and dispersed into its spectral colors, creating a circular or elliptical halo around the sun. Sun halos can appear as bright, white rings or arcs around the sun, with a radius of about 22 degrees.

Sun halos are relatively rare phenomena and are typically seen in areas with cold climates or high altitudes, where ice crystals are present in the atmosphere. They can also be seen in connection with other atmospheric phenomena, such as sundogs (bright spots or patches of light on either side of the sun) and tangent arcs (bright arcs of light tangent to the sun halo).

Sun halos are often considered to be beautiful and awe-inspiring natural phenomena, and have been the subject of fascination and interest for centuries. In many cultures, they are seen as a sign of good luck or an omen of change.

My other blogs:

Roadscape Photography
Chevrolet El Camino 1970
Life @ Loimaa, mostly Finnish

Spearheads in the sky

As I was driving home from work I noticed these spearheads in the sky.

These are Cirrus (cloud classification symbol: Ci) clouds which are a genus of high cloud made of ice crystals. These appear typically as delicate and wispy with white strands. Cirrus are usually formed when warm, dry air rises, causing water vapor deposition onto rocky or metallic dust particles at high altitudes. Globally, they form anywhere between 4,000 and 20,000 meters (13,000 and 66,000 feet) above sea level, with the higher elevations usually in the tropics and the lower elevations in more polar regions.

My other blogs:

Roadscape Photography
Chevrolet El Camino 1970
Life @ Loimaa, mostly Finnish

The March equinox

The March equinox is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. Day is as equal long as night, which happens on 20th of the March.

The March equinox  can occur as early as 19 March or as late as 21 March at 0° longitude. 

The March equinox is also known as spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and as the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.

Weather was not co-operative at all. 

My other blogs:

Roadscape Photography
Chevrolet El Camino 1970
Life @ Loimaa, mostly Finnish

Walking in the moonlight

No, this isn't taken on the day. This was actually shot 5:24 am a few days ago. It shows how far current generation of mobile phone's cameras has evolved. I couldn't dream of this few years ago. 

Moonlight consists of mostly sunlight (with little Earthlight) reflected from the parts of the Moon's surface where the Sun's light strikes.

The intensity of moonlight varies greatly depending on the lunar phase, but even the full moon typically provides only about 0.05–0.1 lux illumination.[2] When a full Moon around perigee (a "supermoon") is viewed around upper culmination from the tropics, the illuminance can reach up to 0.32 lux.[2] From Earth, the apparent magnitude of the full Moon is only about 1⁄380,000 that of the Sun.

The Moon's bond albedo is 0.12,[3] meaning only 12% of incident sunlight is reflected from the lunar surface. Moonlight takes approximately 1.26 seconds to reach Earth's surface. Scattered in Earth's atmosphere, moonlight generally increases the brightness of the night sky, reducing contrast between dimmer stars and the background. For this reason, many astronomers usually avoid observing sessions around a full moon.

My other blogs:

Roadscape Photography
Chevrolet El Camino 1970
Life @ Loimaa, mostly Finnish

Sunset is always magnificent

At least when there aren't too much clouds to cover it completely. 

The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment when the upper limb of the Sun disappears below the horizon. Near the horizon, atmospheric refraction causes sunlight rays to be distorted to such an extent that geometrically the solar disk is already about one diameter below the horizon when a sunset is observed.

Sunset is distinct from twilight, which is divided into three stages. The first one is civil twilight, which begins once the Sun has disappeared below the horizon, and continues until it descends to 6 degrees below the horizon. The second phase is nautical twilight, between 6 and 12 degrees below the horizon. The third phase is astronomical twilight, which is the period when the Sun is between 12 and 18 degrees below the horizon. Dusk is at the very end of astronomical twilight, and is the darkest moment of twilight just before night. Finally, night occurs when the Sun reaches 18 degrees below the horizon and no longer illuminates the sky.

My other blogs:

Roadscape Photography
Chevrolet El Camino 1970
Life @ Loimaa, mostly Finnish