© Martin Gudd
Bad Kreuznach, Germany
Latitude: 49° 49' 20'' N
Longitude: 7° 51' 1'' E
11 December 2014 1144 (Local Time)
Camera direction: towards NW
Image P/S code: P.6.0
Image I.D.: 5145
CL = 7, CM = 2, CH = /
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Nimbostratus praecipitatio and Stratus fractus of wet weather
Nimbostratus is a grey layer of cloud, often dark, with an appearance rendered diffuse by more or less continuously falling rain or snow that in most cases reaches the ground. The cloud is thick enough throughout to obscure the Sun. At the time of this image, Nimbostratus covered the whole sky, with moderate continuous rain falling (supplementary feature praecipitatio). The cloud is a formless mass and light grey in colour as, in this instance, it was largely composed of snow crystals and snowflakes – the relative absence of water droplets permitted more sunlight to penetrate deeply. On the northern horizon, there is a slight, subtle darkening of the base; this is the snow line, where snow is melting within the cloud. The liquid water droplets below this are more efficient at scattering and reflecting light, resulting in this dark band. Beneath the Nimbostratus at 3 and 4 are small, ragged, irregular elements of Stratus cloud, the outlines of which change quickly and ceaselessly and define the species as fractus. As the Stratus is forming in an increasingly moist layer caused by the partial evaporation of rain, it is Stratus fractus of wet weather.
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© Martin GuddBad Kreuznach, GermanyLatitude: 49° 49' 20'' NLongitude: 7° 51' 1'' E11 December 2014 1144 (Local Time)Camera direction: towards NWCL = 7, CM = 2, CH = /Image P/S code: P.6.0Image I.D.: 5145
The 1200 UTC surface chart shows the situation a short time after the photo was taken. Germany is under a strong westerly flow, in the circulation of a deep low of 962 hPa that is centred in the Norwegian Sea. A pronounced trough is moving west to east and associated with this trough are several areas of prolonged precipitation. At noon, weather stations in central Germany were reporting continuous rain or snow, with strong and gusty south-westerly to westerly winds.
© Crown Copyright
The Idar-Oberstein, Germany (WMO 10618) sounding from about 50 km west-south-west of the photo location shows a very moist atmosphere at low and medium levels, extending from the surface to 7 000 m (400 hPa).
© University of Wyoming
The 1200 UTC infrared image captured a short time after the photo was taken shows the intense low between Iceland and Norway and clouds within the trough extending southward from the low. Over Germany, the areas of prolonged precipitation within the strong westerly flow are evident from the white cloud (cold cloud top temperatures), although a break is developing south-east of Bad Kreuznach (red arrow). Mannheim City Airport (53 km south-east) had short periods of rain in the afternoon, while it was generally overcast with continuous rain in Bad Kreuznach.
© EUMETSAT, 2014
Nimbostratus with Stratus fractus
A layer of Nimbostratus covers the sky and completely hides the sun. Below this layer are a few patches of Stratus fractus at such locations as 1, 2 and 3. Rain is falling at the time of the picture. A cold front had passed over the area earlier in the day, but a wave forming to the south-west had brought a return of middle cloud and rain for a time.
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© R.K. PilsburyBracknell, Bracknell Forest, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandLatitude: 51° 24' 58'' NLongitude: 0° 45' 14'' W24 January 1972 1350 (Local Time)Camera direction: towards NCL = 7, CM = 2, CH = /
Nimbostratus with Altocumulus stratiformis
A large, raining cloud area is located at the top of the picture, extending for a large distance to the south. This dark, diffuse Nimbostratus cloud is raining lightly at its edge at 2. In the distance is found blue sky, where the Nimbostratus gives way to scattered layers of Altocumulus stratiformis and possibly some Cirrus. The photo was taken on the north edge of a large rain area associated with a stationary E-W front.
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© R.L. HolleWaterloo, Indiana, United States of AmericaLatitude: 41° 25' 55'' NLongitude: 85° 1' 12'' W19 August 1985 0705 (Local Time)Camera direction: towards ENECL = 0, CM = 2, CH = /
Nimbostratus
Some differences in opacity appear in this very low layer of Nimbostratus which partly hides the top of the Eiffel Tower. The station was situated to the south-east of the centre of a cold upper low. A weak surface low was centred over Biscay with a quasi-stationary warm-front-type occlusion extending from Ireland to southern France.
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© A. ViautParis, FranceLatitude: 48° 51' 24'' NLongitude: 2° 21' 8'' E18 March 1952 1000 (Local Time)Camera direction: towards SSWCL = 0, CM = 2, CH = /