Baffling mackerel sky phenomenon surprises many skywatchers in Mexico

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This baffling mackerel sky surprised many residents of Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico on March 26, 2016.

And guess how it is created?

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A mackerel sky is a common term for a sky with rows of cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds displaying an undulating, rippling pattern similar in appearance to fish scales.

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This is caused by high altitude atmospheric waves. Cirrocumulus appears almost exclusively with cirrus some way ahead of a warm front and is a reliable forecaster that the weather is about to change.

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When these high clouds progressively invade the sky and the barometric pressure begins to fall, precipitation associated with the disturbance is likely about 6 to 12 hours away. A thickening and lowering of cirrocumulus into middle-étage altostratus or altocumulus is a good sign the warm front or low has moved closer and it may start raining within less than six hours.

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The old rhymes “Mackerel sky, not twenty-four hours dry” and “Mares’ tails and mackerel scales make lofty ships to carry low sails” both refer to this long-recognized phenomenon.

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Other phrases in weather lore take mackerel skies as a sign of changeable weather. Examples include “Mackerel sky, mackerel sky. Never long wet and never long dry”, and “A dappled sky, like a painted woman, soon changes its face”.

 

I thought this was actually some HAARP-created clouds… But sometimes I am wrong 😉

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