Contrails

Just because I can, I am going to start with a pun.  Ready?   The term contrail is a condensed version of condensation trail.  They are basically made of water and a few particulates from the exhaust of jets slipping high overtop us in the chill air at high cruising altitudes.

They are line-shaped clouds.

As such, contrails tend to be ephemeral and normally fade away rather quickly.  In certain conditions, though, especially those of high humidity in the upper atmosphere, contrails may persist for hours.  They may even grow in size as they collect more moisture from the thin air around them.

We experienced just such an event over my house yesterday.  The contrails of over a dozen passing jets lingered for several hours.

Researcher organizations from around the world (including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) have documented such persistent contrails evolving into significant cirrus cloudbanks in the bustling flyways above densely populated regions of the planet.  Such researchers believe that, on occasion, these man-made clouds may be enough to modify the weather.

Posted today is a photograph of the contrails stretched above my house yesterday morning.

--Mitchell Hegman