WHEN LOOKING UP SENDS YOU TO CLOUD NINE
Do you know your Morning Glory from your lenticularis? Gavin Pretor-Pinney does. The founder of the quirky Cloud Appreciation Society has done more to further interest in the swirling patterns of the skies above us than anyone else
THEY might be nothing more than fleeting patches of water droplets and ice crystals suspended in the Earth’s homosphere but the clouds above us create a glorious near-constant pageant gliding across our skies. Thanks to prevailing winds rushing in off the Atlantic, they’re regular visitors to our shores. Nasa’s Earth Observatory has estimated that 67 per cent of our planet’s surface is covered in cloud most of the time – no wonder they have a bad reputation for shutting out the sun and bringing the rain, no matter how necessary.
But clouds have influenced aspects of life for centuries and continue to captivate millions of fans around the globe – none more so than Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society and author of bestselling book The Cloudspotter’s Guide.
“I first started noticing clouds when I was five and being driven to school,” he says. “I remember noticing the sun bursting out from behind a cloud. It caught my attention and made me think about why the cloud was there, why it stayed in the sky and what it would be like to sit on.”
Having co-founded a magazine called The Idler, which specialised in “literature for loafers” in the 1990s, Gavin worked at the publication until 2003 when he took a sixmonth sabbatical in Rome. But amid glorious blue skies something was missing. “You get these amazing storm clouds at certain times of the year but the norm was much more of a predictable sky,” he recalls. “At first I was like, ‘This is amazing! Sky! Sunshine! I’m on holiday!’” But he soon realised he was missing the changeability of clouds.
Back home, he launched the Cloud Appreciation Society in 2005. While it might sound rather eccentric it now boasts more than 63,000 members from some 120 countries – including the US, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan – who are all equally fascinated by every type of cloud.
“Clouds get a bad rap and need someone to stand up for them,” says Gavin, 56, who lives in Somerset with his family. “We get plenty of cloud in the UK but some people only notice them when they obscure the sun – they regard them like obstacles in life, metaphorically. I thought that was a shame because, with a slight tweak in your perspective, you realise they’re among the most dynamic aspects of nature.”
REFLECTING on the members who share his enthusiasm, he says: “One person stopped me at an event we hosted to show a tattoo on his arm depicting not only the society’s cloud logo but his membership number. Another put in his will that he wanted his membership certificate placed on his coffin at his funeral. People have cloud-themed weddings and funerals.”
Clouds bring change and variety to their lives. “Waking up each day, there’s a new sky to read,” enthuses Gavin, who has made running the society and writing cloud books his fulltime profession.
“That said, there are some cloud formations that hang around and don’t bring variety – such as layer clouds altostratus or nimbostratus. Both are probably the least popular formations because they lack variety in appearance and don’t change very fast.” Clouds aren’t always benign, though. The bases of cumulus clouds can be dangerous and are feared by paragliders and hang-gliders because thermal updrafts can contribute to a phenomenon called “cloud suck”. In 2007, paraglider EwaWisnierska-Cieslewicz was sucked up into a cumulonimbus cloud, rapidly climbing to an altitude of 32,600ft – close to the altitude of a commercial jet. She lost consciousness but miraculously came to an hour later and managed to land her paraglider safely. On reaching the ground, she was covered in ice, having experienced temperatures of around -50C, and heavily bruised due to the impact of hailstones. Of course, the sky is ever-present, a part of nature that everyone has access to, regardless of where they live. Gavin just wishes more people would look up and appreciate its beauty. His latest book, Cloudspotting for Beginners, is partly aimed at younger readers as he believes the sky is a “good antidote to our obsession with looking down at our devices”.
He says: “It can be valuable to step away from the stresses of day-to-day living and put them into perspective by looking up at the clouds. It’s good for your well-being.”
Gavin has travelled the world in the name of clouds – even jetting off to Australia in a bid to find one type.
“That was potentially a massive folly because I went for two weeks and could have returned without seeing it,” he admits. “So, it was a relief when, with just days before heading home, the cloud – known as Morning Glory – arrived. I remember sitting in a tiny bar in remote northern Queensland waiting for this cloud, which resembles a surfer’s wave and stretches right across the sky, to appear.
“Fortunately, my friends and family understand that I have an obsession with clouds so were happy for me to head off!”
Gavin, who is married to Liz and has two children, even gave his eldest the middle name of Cirrus after his favourite of the 10 main cloud types.
His favourite cloud, though, is lenticularis – named after the Latin word for lentil. Shaped like a UFO, it forms downwind of hills and mountains and hovers in the sky, even if a strong wind is blowing.
There is only one type of cloud Gavin hasn’t seen: the Horseshoe Vortex. “It’s like a horseshoe with the ends pointing downwards
and is very fleeting – it only forms for a few minutes before breaking up,” he says. “It’s rare and if you get the chance to photograph it, do so because it’s one of the crown jewels in the collection for cloudspotters.”
Being inspired by what’s above is centuries old. The painter John Constable, born in 1776, once remarked that the sky was “the chief Organ of Sentiment” for his work. It remains just as influential today.
The classification of clouds, which introduced such poetic names as cumulus and cirrus, has existed for more than 200 years after being introduced by an amateur meteorologist. Luke Howard, a pharmacist passionate about the weather, was a member of a London-based debating club for scientific thinkers. In 1802 he presented an essay at a meeting in which he named the clouds.
Howard chose Latin, the language of science, to name different forms such as cirrus (meaning curl of hair), cumulus (translating to heap) and stratus (something spread).
Realising that clouds could also change form and turn into an intermediate category, he introduced other terms accordingly, such as cirro-stratus. His original terminology is still used worldwide today.
Clouds form when air temperature reaches condensation point. Water vapour turns into liquid and collects on tiny particles in the air – such as dust – to become visible. But prior to Howard introducing his classifications, clouds were regarded as too short-lived to be categorised scientifically.
Howard inspired poets, philosophers and artists of the Romantic Movement. German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe dedicated four poems to him and his clouds, writing: “As clouds ascend, are folded, scatter, fall, let the world think of thee who taught it all.”
Constable, whose work was heavily influenced by clouds, was particularly interested in Howard’s classifications. When the amateur meteorologist’s essay was first published, the artist obtained a copy and applied some of its terminology to the back of watercolour sketches of clouds he painted.
A study of 19th century landscape painting reveals significant differences to the way clouds were interpreted during the previous century. Layers to the clouds’ texture are far more evident.
But not everyone felt Howards’ classifications helped the art world. German landscape artist Caspar David Friedrich claimed they actually inhibited the expressive potential of clouds.
Regardless, there is no doubt of the influence clouds have had on culture, literature and art. Gavin continues to urge people to look skyward and says: “If you notice something special in the clouds, pay attention.
“Don’t miss it as no other cloud will ever be quite the same – and you might be the only person in the world who chose to spot it!”
● Cloudspotting for Beginners by Gavin Pretor-Pinney and William Grill (Particular Books, £20) is out now. Visit expressbookshop.com or call Express Bookshop on 020 3176 3832. Free UK P&P on orders over £25. For Gavin’s society see cloudappreciationsociety.org