Well, there are some marvellous photos on the forum to come back to after a week away (Mike, Jari...). I've been in sunny Wales, but at a sporting event where unfortunately I couldn't even carry my phone never mind a camera, so the only good cloud views I have are stored in my memory banks.
Anyway, a friend sent a couple of photos and asked me if I knew what the clouds were. I said probably contrail, but they are a bit odd. Anyone here have an explanation? Taken near Bedale, N. Yorkshire.
The resolution isn't good enough to zoom in, but there almost seems to be a shadow, or another similar trail just behind the main one.







Anita, North Cumbria, UK

Great image of clouds stitched to the sky

So, do I tell my friend this was made by the big sewing machine in the sky?

Anita, North Cumbria, UK

Very interesting photo, that! I think that line of intermittent cloud puffs is called a 'Stutter', caused by a 'plane with an internal combustion engine and dirty spark plugs ....... GWW

Wow! Looks like a string of minuscule fall streak holes. Could it be that an aeroplane has flown near this height and precipitated some nuclei into to the layer?

How did they develop from this point onwards? I wonder if the little punches got any bigger. Maybe they just went mushy?

Jari

Alec - help!

Anita: yes, God made the world with a bunsen burner, a few organic elements and a large sewing machine. It's been proven in the fossil records!

..I think,,in Braille they say.." cloud"..

Hi Anita,

Definitely a contrail or contrail related phenomenon. I have seen this type once or twice before and think I may even have a photo somewhere in my archives. I shall try to dig it out. As to what caused it, absolutely no idea though Jari might be on to something...

Best,

Alec

I guess it depends on whether we decide a) the dark spots are holes in the ?higher layer of cirrus or b) shadows cast on that layer by the white puffs (which COULD be above the cirrus and show through as more intense white if the cirrus is thin enough) or c) shadowed sides on the dense puffs on their side away from the sun. In c) the sun's position & strength would obviously be crucial. Just goes to show how the sky gives us intriguing puzzles to solve all the time - great free entertainment! Even if we were there at the time and could see the whole scene in 3 dimensions, we'd still have difficulty figuring out exatcly what is going on Any more guesses folks? GWW

A little more info. My friend says:
[quote]I've included the last one I took showing the length of the shadows and the direction of the sun. I used our caravan to shade the sun and as you can see from the shadows of the other vans on the site, it was around 6/7 pm. The shadows also confirm the sun position I didn't notice the black dots when I took the photos, but looking at them now it would be really difficult to link the sun, the cloud "puffs" and the black dots, whichever way round.[end quote]





Anita, North Cumbria, UK