Description
Book SynopsisReeds Cloud Handbook is a quick-access, easy-to-use guide to identifying cloud types and how to predict what each cloud type can tell us about the weather and predict how it will change.
This concise pocket reference will appeal to those who spend time outdoors and wants to better understand the weather, with its principal focus for sailors and also anyone going walking, fishing, cycling etc. This portable handbook will give you the essential information about common and unusual cloud types, how they form and what weather patterns are associated with them.
Fully illustrated with colour photography and clear diagrams, this cloud identification guide includes sections on different weather patterns and how clouds form, different clouds according to where they appear in the sky, related features and different forms of fog. Each entry gives guidance on how and when to spot different cloud types and effects, and how the clouds relate to wind and rain patterns.
Table of ContentsIntroduction to the weather How to use this book A brief introduction to the clouds Deciphering cloud names A bit of history
Weather systems Air masses Depressions Anticyclones
High clouds Cirrus Thick cirrus (cirrus spissatus) Cirrostratus Cirrocumulus Contrails (cirrus homogenitus)
Middle clouds Altocumulus floccus Altocumulus castellanus Altocumulus sheets (altocumulus stratiformis) Altocumulus lenticularis Thin altostratus (altostratus translucidus) Thick altostratus (altostratus opacus)
Lower clouds Cumulus Cumulus fractus Fair weather cumulus (cumulus humilis) Towering cumulus (cumulus congestus) Cumulus cloud streets (cumulus radiatus) Featureless stratus (stratus nebulosus) Broken stratus (stratus fractus) Stratocumulus Stratocumulus stratiformis Stratocumulus castellanus Nimbostratus Cumulonimbus calvus Cumulonimbus capillatus Thunderstorms
Supplementary features and accessory clouds Supplementary features Asperitas Mamma Fall streaks (virga) Anvil (incus) Funnel cloud (tuba) Shelf and roll clouds (arcus) Kelvin-Helmholtz waves (fluctus)
Accessory clouds Cap clouds (pileus) Pannus Velum
Fog Sea fog (advection fog) Land fog (radiation fog) Upslope fog Frontal fog Sea smoke
Clouds outside the troposphere Nacreous (mother of pearl) Noctilucent
Optical phenomena Rainbow Corona Halo Mock sun/sun dog/parhelion Iridescence Ice rainbow (circumzenithal arc) Sunbeams and crepuscular rays Glory
Cloud weather lore Glossary Quick cloud identifier Index
