August 26th - Mushroom cloud, breaking waves, and grey sky

It has been raining pretty much all day, and the sky is basically grey - I did manage to eek out one photo just to stay honest. The other 2 pictures are from my archive. They were taken with a Sony Cybershot about 18 months ago. These were also taken from my yard, but it was at a different house about a mile from where we live now.


High Clouds:
One of the types of high clouds are the cirrostratus clouds like the grey background in this first photo. These clouds appear in sheets that have non-distinct features. They are usually thin enough for the sun or moon to shine through.

Middle Clouds:
The clouds in the foreground of the same photo are Altocumulus (I'm pretty sure). They are either scattered or in linear bands.


Multi-layer clouds:
Cumulonimbus clouds are the most dramatic type of cloud, and produce severe weather including thunder, lightning, hail and tornadoes. They expand at the top forming an anvil shape. This is caused by the stronger winds in the higher atmosphere.

This cumulonimbus cloud looks like waves crashing upon the rocky shore.

This cumulonimbus cloud, dramatically offset by the sudden appearance of the sun could almost be mistaken for a UFO or an atomic mushroom cloud.