From End to End

On my drive home yesterday afternoon, I found myself driving under a spectacular display of clouds.  Starting at the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, the clouds extended for dozens and dozens of miles across the sky—covering our entire valley from end to end.

They were a show-stopper. 

I skidded to a halt in the middle of my country drive, hopped out, and captured an image with my twice-as-smart-as-me-phone.

The clouds were of the wind-blown altocumulus type. 

 

Altocumulus clouds appear at between 6,000 and 20,000 feet.  The name means “high mass” or “high heap.”  According to UCAR Center for Science Education, if you hold hour thumb out at arm’s length Altocumulus clouds will appear about as wide as your thumb.  Cirrocumulus clouds, which look similar, appear above 18,000 feet and are usually about the size of your pinky finger when you hold it aloft.

  --Mitchell Hegman