Undulatus Asperatus - crowd sourced cloud

Astrolatus Undulatus hanging over Newlyn Harbour

Newlyn played host to a seldom seen cloud formation recently and as a result is helping to get the cloud and its name formally recognised. First identified in 1952 it was not until the internet was used in 2009 to help further the naming cause when Undulatus Asperatus came to the attention of the British based, Cloud Appreciation Society who are currently in the process of getting the cloud officially recognised. The final say is up to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization in Geneva. The undulatus will only be officially recognized if it is included in the WMO’s International Cloud Atlas.

The story was covered by the media including the Daily telegraph yesterday:

"Meteorologists believe they have discovered a new classification of cloud after the unique formation has been spotted in skies around the world.

Experts at the Royal Meteorological Society are now attempting to have the new cloud type, which has been named "Asperatus" after the Latin word for rough, officially added to the international nomenclature scheme used by forecasters to identify clouds. If successful, it will be the first variety of cloud to be classified since 1953. 

The new type of cloud forms a dark, lumpy blanket across the sky and has been sighted in locations all over the world, including above the hills of the Scottish Highlands and above Snowdonia, Wales. "It is a bit like looking at the surface of a choppy sea from below," said Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, who first identified the asperatus cloud from photographs that were being sent in by members of the society."

As a finalist in the Nikon inFrame photographic competition, the print of the Undulatus Asperatus photo above is currently on display at the Getty Images Gallery in London until October the 6th.