finally something relaxing. nothing about AI or a reminder for myself to start another project with some new fancy method, no politics.
Thank you
mikestorrent•May 29, 2026
And don't worry, each type of cloud is already owned and trademarked years ago, you're not missing out on altocumulus.co.uk or whatever
_carbyau_•May 29, 2026
And you can look outside to see your local version of it.
And, it updates frequently!
furyofantares•May 29, 2026
Ironic!
falloon•May 29, 2026
I'm something of a cloud-enjoyer. If you're interested in learning more about clouds I'd recommend the international cloud atlas website.
https://cloudatlas.wmo.int/en/home.html
Cloud formation is probably interesting example of spontaneous symmetry breaking, but that doesn’t seem to be much studied.
jmtame•May 29, 2026
When I moved from the Bay Area to Austin, the first thing I realized: I missed seeing Cumulus clouds, which I saw a lot growing up in the midwest. Bay Area either has blue skies or Cirrus clouds, but never did see Cumulus clouds there.
akoboldfrying•May 29, 2026
Sorry but I can't make sense of this comment. If we assume "Bay Area either has blue skies or Cirrus clouds, but never did see Cumulus clouds there" is true, then the first sentence would make more sense if you had moved from Austin (which presumably has cumulus clouds) to the Bay Area (which doesn't, per your final sentence).
I also wasn't sure what to make of "in the midwest". Not being from the US, I thought that that would be referring to Austin -- but when I asked Gemini, it confidently told me that Austin is not in the Midwest. I know the Bay Area is not in the Midwest, so... Are you referring to a third place here?
TheColorYellow•May 29, 2026
Not OP, but: Moving back to Austin, the overwhelming number of cumulus clouds in the sky reminded him how much he enjoyed their marshmallowy appearance. They don't exist in the Bay, hence his first sentence being true.
Presumably he spent his youth in the Midwest. Austin is a pretty transient city so OP likely moved there.
Funny enough I have felt similar to OP about Texas skies compared to the East Coast. The plains landscape and the heat (common to the Midwest) seems to create a cloud overlay so very different from what you find on the coasts. Me, I'll keep my stratocumulus and cirrocumulus beautiful sunsets of the South Eastern United States anyday!
jmtame•May 29, 2026
Yep that’s right. First sentence was poorly worded, but I was trying to figure out why moving to Austin made me feel nostalgia, turns out it was the Cumulus clouds. Both Austin and Illinois have them, but the Bay does not.
What I find fascinating objects of beauty are the ways different clouds modify light or are illuminated by different kinds of light, from the belt of Venus to different kinds of halos to crepuscular and anti solar rays.
I remember that one time where anti-solar rays painted pole to pole "longitudes" on the hemispherical dome of the sky. It's too bad we don't have photographic memory, or at least I don't.
It is such a wonderful world if one has the luxury of time and space and the foresight to remove oneself from the cover of a ceiling once in a while.
I'm having trouble understanding the Belt of Venus one. Isn't purple expected to be there per ROYGBIV? Also the second image looks orange to me, not purple.
> It is a pinkish glow that surrounds the observer
This also makes no sense to me, or else maybe observer is jargon? But there's no hyperlink... The photographer certainly doesn't seem to be surrounded by a pinkish glow.
Is it just a name for the purple part of the spectrum?
srean•May 29, 2026
> Isn't purple expected to be there per ROYGBIV
I do not understand the Physics of the phenomenon very well, but I would expect the high frequency wavelengths (for example, purple) to be scattered away.
"Surround" does not describe the phenomenon of Belt of Venus adequately. Think of it like a horizontal band wrapped around the dome of the sky, slightly above the horizon, and prominent towards the West, fading towards the East.
kalev•May 29, 2026
Lol, i expected a comparison between the major cloud providers but had a hard time believing there would be ten of them.. Anyway, I should take a day of to look at some real clouds.
Lorin•May 29, 2026
Ironically the site is now giving a "The website encountered an unexpected error. Try again later." Do I blame the cloud?
IdiotSavage•May 29, 2026
Definitely.
x-cache: Error from cloudfront
NooneAtAll3•May 29, 2026
noaa got hug of death?
calmbonsai•May 29, 2026
Heh, based on the title, I thought this would be "10 Basic Clouds" for AWS, Azure, GCP, etc. in some sort of GoF "Design Patterns" lexicon.
progbits•May 29, 2026
Thought so too and I think it's a sign I need a break.
unethical_ban•May 29, 2026
Do kids still get taught this in school? I got taught a few in the day. Cirrus, Cumulus, Stratus, Cumulonimbus. Wispy, cottonball, blanket, storm.
ashm1104•May 29, 2026
Damn my IT brain thought of AWS , Azure and what not , I should go touch grass
_blk•May 29, 2026
yup. even sonnet 4.6 on low got it right
circadian•May 29, 2026
Sadly the website is offline, but if you like a hard copy cloud book I can heartily recommend the following. During my spell in Antarctica, I had to act as a meteorological observer (clouds are still manually encoded into METOBS that are entered in by WMO stations). This required learning the 10 types and being able to characterise the full picture of the sky.
It made me a total cloud addict, and spurred a far deeper interest in the role of the atmosphere in environmental science which has persisted ever since.
I heartily recommend looking up at the sky, dividing into oktas (eighths) and trying to classify how much of the low, medium and high clouds there are. If you do it regularly enough, the changes begin to astound. Getting your kids to do it too is also wonderful, because it's always there as an activity... :)
It is amazing how much of 'it' is going on in the skies once you start noticing.
There was a thread this winter on solstices, with commenters expressing wonder at how could humans figure those out. If you notice sunrises/sunsets day after day over the years, it is inescapable. It's sad that we the modern humans spend so much time hunkered below opaque ceilings.
But I will say this, having interest in cloud-spotting and amateur astronomy is very very rewarding. Clouds stop being an impediment to you and grow into a phenomena worth appreciating on their own terms.
circadian•May 29, 2026
Hear hear :)
Brendinooo•May 29, 2026
Are you able to know and/or predict things about the weather by knowing the different clouds?
Like cumulonimbus = thunderstorm, stratus = maybe rain, sure. But what about the others?
circadian•May 29, 2026
I wouldn't say conclusively, but certainly they're an indicator for things like what you mention. Nimbostratus are typically associated with rain, cumulonimbus for thunderstorms: both of these are indicators for the atmospheric conditions and thermal upwellings that will cause sudden precipitation and / or electrostatic discharge.
We also did air observations for pilots. If you saw certain types of cumulus near peaks, called lenticulars, pilots wouldn't go near them because they're caused by pretty dangerous winds dynamics.
It's all connected, which is why it gets so fascinating. Sadly, I never pursued meteorology beyond hobbyist, but I'd love to!
During my time in Antarctica we had a (Turbo Pascal, I think) program on the met computer that prompted for weather conditions and sent it off to the satellite terminal. The UI was not great, it was surprisingly easy to report sandstorms.
They have forums where people post neat cloud photos and if you sign up for membership they will send you an identification chart plus a journal for keeping track of the types you have seen.
Makes for a nice gift for that person you know who always goes "oh look at that cloud!" :)
gobdovan•May 29, 2026
'Look at that cloud, dad! It's a bean with legs!'
'No son, that's a Cumulus cloud. Detached, dense, with sharp outlines.'
BinaryBuddha•May 29, 2026
Disappointed to see no mention of AWS, Azure, or GCP.
TonyAlicea10•May 29, 2026
Beware the Cumulonimbus.
smusamashah•May 29, 2026
Cumulus are the best clouds. They make so many shapes and things. I could see them as space ships floating by or big heads, or dragons and what not as a child.
cat-whisperer•May 29, 2026
when I clicked on this. I was hoping to see cloud providers. but it was a pleasant surprise
18 Comments
Thank you
Personal top three clouds:
- Nacreous clouds
- Altocumulus lenticularis
- Cirrus homogenitus (what a name)
https://www.cloudman.com
https://cloudatlas.wmo.int/en/fog-bow.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_physics
Cloud formation is probably interesting example of spontaneous symmetry breaking, but that doesn’t seem to be much studied.
I also wasn't sure what to make of "in the midwest". Not being from the US, I thought that that would be referring to Austin -- but when I asked Gemini, it confidently told me that Austin is not in the Midwest. I know the Bay Area is not in the Midwest, so... Are you referring to a third place here?
Presumably he spent his youth in the Midwest. Austin is a pretty transient city so OP likely moved there.
Funny enough I have felt similar to OP about Texas skies compared to the East Coast. The plains landscape and the heat (common to the Midwest) seems to create a cloud overlay so very different from what you find on the coasts. Me, I'll keep my stratocumulus and cirrocumulus beautiful sunsets of the South Eastern United States anyday!
I remember that one time where anti-solar rays painted pole to pole "longitudes" on the hemispherical dome of the sky. It's too bad we don't have photographic memory, or at least I don't.
It is such a wonderful world if one has the luxury of time and space and the foresight to remove oneself from the cover of a ceiling once in a while.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_of_Venus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular_rays#Gallery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticrepuscular_rays#/media/Fi...
> It is a pinkish glow that surrounds the observer
This also makes no sense to me, or else maybe observer is jargon? But there's no hyperlink... The photographer certainly doesn't seem to be surrounded by a pinkish glow.
Is it just a name for the purple part of the spectrum?
I do not understand the Physics of the phenomenon very well, but I would expect the high frequency wavelengths (for example, purple) to be scattered away.
"Surround" does not describe the phenomenon of Belt of Venus adequately. Think of it like a horizontal band wrapped around the dome of the sky, slightly above the horizon, and prominent towards the West, fading towards the East.
It made me a total cloud addict, and spurred a far deeper interest in the role of the atmosphere in environmental science which has persisted ever since.
I heartily recommend looking up at the sky, dividing into oktas (eighths) and trying to classify how much of the low, medium and high clouds there are. If you do it regularly enough, the changes begin to astound. Getting your kids to do it too is also wonderful, because it's always there as an activity... :)
Really hoping this site comes online again soon!
https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/met-office-cloud...
There was a thread this winter on solstices, with commenters expressing wonder at how could humans figure those out. If you notice sunrises/sunsets day after day over the years, it is inescapable. It's sad that we the modern humans spend so much time hunkered below opaque ceilings.
But I will say this, having interest in cloud-spotting and amateur astronomy is very very rewarding. Clouds stop being an impediment to you and grow into a phenomena worth appreciating on their own terms.
Like cumulonimbus = thunderstorm, stratus = maybe rain, sure. But what about the others?
We also did air observations for pilots. If you saw certain types of cumulus near peaks, called lenticulars, pilots wouldn't go near them because they're caused by pretty dangerous winds dynamics.
It's all connected, which is why it gets so fascinating. Sadly, I never pursued meteorology beyond hobbyist, but I'd love to!
* https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/MorningG...
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Glory_cloud
They have forums where people post neat cloud photos and if you sign up for membership they will send you an identification chart plus a journal for keeping track of the types you have seen.
Makes for a nice gift for that person you know who always goes "oh look at that cloud!" :)
'No son, that's a Cumulus cloud. Detached, dense, with sharp outlines.'