learning What is this weird cloud please

[Ukwoody]

HI Can anyone tell me what sort of cloud this is please and how it is formed?      Taken just a few mins ago over Milford Haven.  It is still there though a it wider now.

Many thanks

 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

contrail, plane flying above 31000 feet, under certain conditions, contrails linger, especially when change on the way

[Ukwoody]

Well did wonder, but none of the others have changed at all which seemed a bit weird

 

[frogesque]

Basically, contrails form when the water vapour content of burnt jet fuel condenses and then freezes in the cold upper atmosphere. These tiny ice crystals then act a seeding for super cooled atmospheric water vapour to give up heat and freeze out. If conditions are right this seeding effect continues and the trail can spread out.

Other times the contrails will be intermittent as the jet flies through different layers of atmosphere.

Contrails are a real manifestation of anthropomorphic activity unlike so called chemtrails which are the product of an overactive imagination!

[Ukwoody]

Ok, but why only this one trail?

(Fortunately I do not suffer with that particular overactive imagination often favoured by Potheads ;-)  )

 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

22 minutes ago, Ukwoody said:

Ok, but why only this one trail?

(Fortunately I do not suffer with that particular overactive imagination often favoured by Potheads ;-)  )

 

if you know time, try backtracking flight on flight radar 24? will tell you altitude and type of plane

[Jo Farrow]

On 4/23/2017 at 20:14, Ukwoody said:

Ok, but why only this one trail?

(Fortunately I do not suffer with that particular overactive imagination often favoured by Potheads ;-)  )

 

 

The planes will be flying at different heights and at different times of day. The air moisture content, wind direction and wind strength varies (sometimes greatly) up through the atmosphere. This contrail has been around a while as it is broad and fading. It looks like upwind/ perpendicular to the trail there could be maybe hills or something which is funnelling the winds slightly and giving this wavy pattern. Not enough to break up the streak of cloud yet but just to make it meander.  Weather folk send up balloons to take a snap shot of a vertical section of the atmopshere as it gives such a lot of info. The resulting output a tephigram, shows how the winds vary with height (on RHS) and the cloudy areas (near surface) and drier slots (like around 550Hpa). http://www.blackmountainsgliding.co.uk/groundschool/gsdocs/tg/tephigrams.pdf   This one just seems to be in a position where the local winds are giving a weird result, others are too high/low

 

[weatherguru14]

Am no  expert  but it looks like one of them really  unusual  events... Known as the snake cloud..

[Ukwoody]

Thanks to all off you for your input.  Jo that was a great explanation, thank you

woody