The Secret World of Weather

The Secret World of Weather is a guide to forecasting weather through various clues found in nature, such as plants, the wind, or clouds, to come up with an accurate calculation of the weather without having to check the news.

When we want to tell how the weather will turn out in the immediate future, we instinctively look up to the sky. That is because most of the clues we need are exactly there. Clouds can tell you about the air, the water, and the temperature.

There are three big cloud families, namely: cirrus, stratus, and cumulus clouds. The first type is similar to cotton candy or feathers. They sometimes look like a comma with a trailing tail. An interesting fact is that the longer the tail is, the stronger the wind. When these clouds multiply, there’s a strong chance of upcoming bad weather.

The second type of cloud covers flat, wide portions of the sky. They usually move slowly, meaning that the weather won’t change much from what it looks like at that given moment. These clouds indicate stability, so you can be sure that your plans will stick when you see them.

Cumulus clouds are the result of warm air rising from the ground, causing them to take the shape of what we usually draw them like. They have flat bottoms and big bulges on top. And we commonly see them over the cities in the afternoon. They signal instability, as when taller and lower-level clouds combine, it’s quite likely that rain showers will follow.

So what is wind? Scientifically, it is created when a warm front, such as a high-pressure air mass, collides with a cool front, or a low-pressure air mass. When the wind is strong and shifts direction, it shows that the air masses are changing, and so is the weather. Just like there are three types of clouds, there are three types of wind as well: the ground wind, the main wind, and the high wind. The first type is the one that moves cirrus clouds, the ones that look like cotton candy, as it blows really high. The main wind covers a bigger landmass and blows lower. In fact, this is the wind that the meteorologists talk about when presenting the weather. However, we experience ground winds during the day. They’re local winds influenced by local landscapes. An interesting fact is that ground wind is greatly affected by mountains, trees, or any object that it encounters on its way. Moreover, if the wind blows from south to north, it signals that bad weather is on its way. Next time you observe this in your city, you’ll also notice that it starts to rain…