Here’s what a good November day looks like when gazing east from Amen Ridge here. Stratocumulus clouds parade over Blue Hill Bay as Mount Cadillac in Acadia National Park stands stiffly in review. Later, it will be the clouds that you remember.
Stratocumulus clouds reportedly are the world’s most common clouds, and the derivation of their name is not flattering. They are a “flattened heap,” according to their Latin origin. Yet, they’re friendly. They usually don’t rain on us and, if they lose control and do, it’s usually an apologetic sprinkle.
In fact, they are the sky’s fortune tellers -- they tell us when the weather will change for the better or worse. That’s because they’re usually visible when a warm, cold, or occluded front is forming nearby. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on November 1, 2021.)