Meteorology: Naming Clouds
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: Wherever I'm told
Hope this helps....
http://www.metoffice.com/bookshelf/clouds/index.html
Obviously the met office has a lot of other very useful info on this site as well....well worth a look around. Register to get regular forecasts etc.
http://www.metoffice.com/bookshelf/clouds/index.html
Obviously the met office has a lot of other very useful info on this site as well....well worth a look around. Register to get regular forecasts etc.
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: Wherever I'm told
As far as I know, this is what happened:
"The father of modern meteorology" an English pharmacist named Luke Howard originally gave cloud types their names in 1803. He first introduced 3 cloud types; Stratus (layered), Cumulus (meaning "heaped" in Latin) and Cirrus (curled). He then added a forth slightly later; Nimbus (Latin for "cloud") for the rain bearing variety. This allowed him to classify virtually any type of passing cloud using a combination of these words, and a bit of a legend in meteorological circles.
This system was added to over the years and eventually was combined to produce the encyclopaedic "International Cloud Atlas" which runs to 2 volumes! This was fortunately condensed in 1896 and divided clouds into 10 basic types, of which the most comfortable, cushiony.....plumpest looking one was number 9; Cumulonimbus. This is where I believe the saying came from originally.
Please correct me if you know differently, as I'm always looking to expand my "useless information" quota!
"The father of modern meteorology" an English pharmacist named Luke Howard originally gave cloud types their names in 1803. He first introduced 3 cloud types; Stratus (layered), Cumulus (meaning "heaped" in Latin) and Cirrus (curled). He then added a forth slightly later; Nimbus (Latin for "cloud") for the rain bearing variety. This allowed him to classify virtually any type of passing cloud using a combination of these words, and a bit of a legend in meteorological circles.
This system was added to over the years and eventually was combined to produce the encyclopaedic "International Cloud Atlas" which runs to 2 volumes! This was fortunately condensed in 1896 and divided clouds into 10 basic types, of which the most comfortable, cushiony.....plumpest looking one was number 9; Cumulonimbus. This is where I believe the saying came from originally.
Please correct me if you know differently, as I'm always looking to expand my "useless information" quota!
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 97
Likes: 0
From: UK
