Looking at Clouds
courtesy of Joe Brown Digital Photography Blending the elements of water and air into texture and form, clouds can seem as much a process of the imagination as they are one of nature. When looking at the shifting shapes of cumulus clouds, I often wonder, am I seeing a reflection of my hopes or my fears? Is this a heart I see heralding good things to come, or is it a horned face of a devil warning of future woes? But such musings are as ephemeral as the clouds themselves, and my mind soon turns another kind of wonder, the workings of our atmosphere. NASA Image In meteorology, clouds are classified by form -- wispy cirrus, blanketing stratus and billowy cumulus, and by height -- low, middle and high. Some clouds simply adorn the sky, while others portend precipitation. The word nimbus is added to the rain-makers; cumulonimbus clouds, more commonly known as thunderheads, can rise to great heights and bring the most extreme weather. In c...