Mocking Clouds

Mocking CloudsThe A330 meandered in between the clouds, skirting the heavy ones and trying as far as possible not to ram directly onto it.

I guess pilots are taught to respect this weather phenomenon and not to try to challenge it by purposedly ramming jetliners onto it, unless there were no other ways to skirt around it, so I was told. I would have to verify this. I do know for sure about one thing, clouds are contributors to air turbulence.

Anyway, I think they have a name for it -- the cloud formations I mean, not the aircraft manouevre. I can tell a Cumulonimbus anytime when I see one. As for the rest of the brood -- Nimbostartus, Cirrocumulus and Altostratus, well I guess I need to read more in order to learn more. I know one thing though -- all clouds are Latin.

The cloud naming system was invented in 1892 by an Englishman Luke Howard. It comprises of two parts -- first to describe the altitude or the heights where the cloud were forming and the second, to describe the shape. The part that describes the heights are: cirro, high clouds above 20,000 feet; and alto, mid level clouds between 6,000 - 20,000 feet. There is no prefix for low level clouds.

The names denoting shapes are: cirrus mean curly or fibrous, stratus means layered, while cumulus means lumpy or piled. Nimbo or nimbus is added to indicate that a cloud can produce precipitation.

After a slight turbulence -- enough to scare an aviophobic like me -- the aircraft landed smoothly on the runway of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. As the A330 taxied to the terminal building, I looked out of the window and wondered what the clouds would have done had they were a living being. I guess they would have mock me all the way throughout the flight for being afraid to fly.

Hell, the clouds were mocking me even after I landed safely. I could see them reassembling to form what could have been the shape of a middle finger! WTF! Who do you think you are? Cumulusdickus?