The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-29

When they stretch across the blue sky,
Ike delicate lacework, they are very beau
uiuL We are told by travellers that on
the SUBMITS of lofty mountain peaks. from
which they could look down upon the hea-
vier clouds, they have seen these wlspy
cirri floating overhead, apparently as far
away as when seen from the valley. Upon
calm summer evening. long after sun
down, these clouds may be seen rejecting
the most delicate tints OF colors from the
last rays Of sunlight which Illuminated
the higher region of the atmosphere. IT
may be interesting TO know thar the cirri
are composed of small crystals Of ice, and
these and their derivatives cause the halos
which are seen at times, about the sun
and moon
II was probably cirro-strati which caused
a great display of "moon-dOgs' and cir
Giles some fourteen years ago at Denver.
and excited so much astonishment among
the superstitious people who never wait
for a common-sense explanation of such
phenomena. The cirrus clouds indicate
both storms and clear weather, according
to their appearance. 1t is a sign that
settled weather is at hand If they appear
in their most delicate forms after stormy
weather. After fair weather has lasted
for some time il they show themselves
in parallel streaks, they are the first in
dcations OF an approaching change.
Stormy weather close at hand is indicated
by cirri when greatly tangled and knot
ted. and ii their borders show family
and with considerable indistinctness, rain
is surely coming.
Cumulus clouds are characteristic OF
summer. You have heard the farmers call
them "thunder-heads," when they raise
their white, rounded SUBMITS, gllttering
in the sun like silver. above the horizon.
The same farmers viii tell you that In such
form they are the forerunners of thun-
derstorm Sometimes. and not lnfrequent-
~, these mountainous-loolSing clouds eK-
coed in size the great peaks OF the Andes
and the Himalayas. On a warm, pleasant
day, If these cumulus clouds appear, no;
very large, but distinct. though perhap0
soft in outline and resembling cotton balls.
they indicate fair and dry weather. When
they grow larger, darker and more for
Misunderstanding, they always foretell
storms, If You will watch them carefully.
you will notice that lust before a rain they
will seem to throw off little neecy clouds
around their edges.
The great German poet Goethe, who was
fond of studying the clouds, said of them
that as long as cumuli have sharply de-
fined borders and a white color a contin-
uance of good weather may he expected.
Soon after sunrise cumuli clouds often
form and temper the intense heat Of a
midsummer day. The weather VIII re-
mann SeIche IL lHey BIdQually disappear
toward evening, but If they grow darker
and more numerous as the sun goes down.
you may rely upon it that there will be
considerable rain. This. surely is plain TO
any man of ordinary intelligence who is
ever favored with a view of the sky, but
this is not all. The cumuli are the capitals
or condensed SUBMITS of invisible columns
Of vapor rising from the earth and they
do not attain nearly as great a hight as
the cirri. Cumuli are generally from a
half mile to two miles high. Cirri vary in
hight from two or three miles to six or
eight miles. The stratus is more common
at night and during the winter
The long banks of clouds which we
first noticed in the southwest which in
dicate a coming northeast storm. are one
Of the varieties Of stratus. and they Al
ways appear in the form of strlps Of
broad, low curtains. covering more or less
Of the sky. The night stratus IS formed
Of mists from swamps, rivers and moist
ground, which generally rise and change
into small cumuli on summer mornings.
The other kind of stratus. which appears
at considerable nights in the fall winter
and early spring, IS an invarable fore
runner of stormy weather. II is not al
ways that these three kinds Of clouds an
pear in their simple forms. but they fire.
quently mingle together, and four varie-
ties of these derivative clouds have beer
Two of these are natural
enemies, namely, the cirro-cunuli and the
The first Is a fair weather
and the last-named a foul weather indi-
Gator, and when they meet after a sum
mer's storm has somewhat cleared, there
Is always war in the sky.