Patches of open-celled clouds off the west coast of Peru offer beautiful glimpses of the sea—and pointers to where rain may have fallen.
Published Aug 7, 2018
Whether a patch of clouds contains open or closed cells offers a clue about whether rain is falling below.
Published Feb 6, 2016
As spring turns to summer in the northern hemisphere, unusual streaks of clouds form high in the atmosphere around sunset.
Published Jun 27, 2019
An astronaut on the ISS caught a glimpse of a sliver of the setting Moon and some clouds that shine at night.
Published Aug 10, 2003
Cold winter conditions set the stage for these unusual clouds that can form due to airplane traffic.
Published Dec 28, 2010
Hole-punch and canal clouds form when aircraft pass through altocumulus clouds that are rich with supercooled water droplets.
Published Dec 30, 2015
Extremely cold and wet conditions in the mesosphere have led to abundant noctilucent clouds.
Published Jul 9, 2020
Hole-punch and canal clouds form when aircraft pass through altocumulus clouds that are rich with supercooled water droplets.
Published Dec 20, 2014
Noctilucent clouds float high enough in the atmosphere to capture a little bit of stray sunlight even after the Sun has set below them.
Published Dec 2, 2016
Satellite images separated by 50 years show actinoform clouds over the Pacific Ocean.
Published Jul 19, 2012
In recent years, scientists have turned their attention to the ways in which human-produced aerosol pollution modifies clouds.
Published May 14, 2002
The rare night-shining clouds seen in this photo are both forming more frequently and becoming brighter, trends that point to changes in the atmosphere linked to greenhouse gases.
Published Jan 27, 2011
High-altitude night-shining clouds form and dissipate on a daily cycle revealed in this series of images made from data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA’s Aura satellite.
Published Jan 28, 2011
