English summer clouds signal approaching storms, old saying confirms
7 reported
An old English saying about summer skies warns that certain cloud patterns indicate approaching bad weather. The saying, “Mare’s tails and mackerel scales make lofty ships to carry low sails,” refers to two distinct cloud types. Mackerel skies are cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds arranged in regular, patchy rows that resemble the pattern on a mackerel fish. Mare’s tails, formally known as Cirrus uncinus, are high-altitude ice-crystal clouds with a comma-shaped head and trailing plumes. Both cloud types signal the imminent arrival of a warm front or a low-pressure cyclonic-storm system. The article reports that the old saying is accurate, as sailors of tall ships were right to lower their sails when they saw these warning clouds in the summer sky.
What’s reported
The saying “Mare’s tails and mackerel scales make lofty ships to carry low sails” is an old English saying about summer skies.
Mackerel skies are cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds in regular but patchy rows, resembling the pattern on a mackerel.
Cirrocumulus is white and wispy; altocumulus is grey and thicker. Cirrocumulus is narrower than a finger at arm’s length, altocumulus more like three fingers.
Mare’s tails are Cirrus uncinus, high-altitude clouds formed of ice crystals with a dense, comma-shaped head and fainter, swept-back plumes.
Both cloud types signal the imminent arrival of a warm front or a low-pressure cyclonic-storm system.
Mackerel skies result from turbulence; mare’s tails result from ice crystals swept into long faint plumes by variation in wind speed at different altitudes.
The old saying is accurate; sailors of tall ships were right to lower sails to avoid being overbalanced by strong winds when seeing these clouds.
Sources: The Guardian
