Cloudy with a hint of blue

05/16/12, 4 pm, looking west

05/19/12, 2 pm, looking northwest

These two mostly overcast days still provided a glimpse of blue sky beyond the cloud curtain. Shown together here, the two skyings are actually three days apart.

Warm and gray

05/12/12, 6 pm looking northwest

Saturday, May 12th was a finer day than this looks like, a day with scattered high clouds and a light breeze with a high just below 80 degrees F, this was what the sky looked like when I was able to paint. Overcast. Gray. Warm. Humid. With just a few light spots breaking through. Oh well.

Cooler

05/06/12, 3:30 pm, looking northwest

Seasonable temperatures today with highs in the mid-70's and lows in the 50's. Cool, cloudy and rainy all the day until late afternoon when it began to clear. You can see one break in the clouds in this watercolor in the upper right.


This is more like what May is usually like: rain, vibrant green grass, irises, peonies and honeysuckle blooming, mulberries ripening, and birds feeding their babies.

No moon for us

05/05/12, 4 pm, looking northwest

Although the day dawned clear, the clouds gathered until the afternoon was completely overcast. We, in Central Virginia, missed the big full moon. It was there but we couldn't see it. Warmer than usual weather continues with a high in the mid-80's and a low about 20 degrees below that. We are still about 10 degrees warmer than average. We ended the day with some drizzles of rain. And, no big moon.

Soft, soft clouds

05/03/12, 11:45 am, looking east

These huge cumulus clouds looked so soft that the edges between sky and cloud aren't really there. The overnight cooler front broke up the overcast skies we had for the past two days. On this day we saw blue sky and these soft clouds, and the high was only 82 F.


Imagine you could reach up and touch such softness. Instead of a commercial for toilet tissue, it would feel cool and damp. Misty drops would collect on the fine hairs on your forearm. Ahhh.

Overcast but breaking up

04/01/12, 2 pm, looking north

The day dawned overcast but by early afternoon the clouds had begun to break up. They revealed a deep cerulean sky with huge cumulus clouds drifting by. They look so soft, don't they?


Taking the rest of April off--see you in May!

03/03/12, 4 pm, looking north

03/04/12, noon, looking west

We had occasional glimpses of sunshine but the bulk of the weekend was overcast with a few spitting showers. 


Overcast refers to the amount of cloud cover in the sky. Completely overcast means that there is no sky visible. The level of cloud cover is measured in oktas, or eighths. So  a completely overcast sky is measured at eight oktas. Oktas only estimate the area of the sky covered by clouds, not the type of cloud covering it.


It was cool and breezy, not cold and not warm. The clouds piled up in huge masses with dark shadows beneath them. Like in the Sunday painting, sometimes the clouds looked like rumpled quilt batting--a folded and layered field of cotton in the sky.

Dreary days

01/19/12, 2 pm, facing south

01/20/12, 2 pm, facing south

Here are the skies beginning with a cold front on Thursday, January 19th through the fog and mist of today, January 23rd. We've had overcast, rainy skies and very warm weather on Thursday, cool on Friday, and cold on Saturday and Sunday.

The system began on Thursday, January 19th with mixed cirrus and cumulus clouds and partly sunny conditions. On Friday, January 20th, the masses of cumulus clouds rolled in allowing brief glimpses of blue sky and sunshine. The warmth of previous days began to chill.

01/21/12, 5:30 pm, looking northwest

By Saturday, January 21st, the sky was completely overcast with boiling, moving cumulus clouds low in the atmosphere. This sunset painting manages to show the colors soaked into the cumulus sponge. The cold was here at last with sleet and mixed ice and rain.

On Sunday, January 22nd, we had light rain and mist all day. The temperature range was very small; the high was 35 degrees F and the low was 33.

01/22/12, 4 pm, facing northwest

01/23/12, 2 pm, facing any direction

Monday, January 23rd dawned in the dark. Central Virginia was completely socked in with fog and mist. A warming trend means temperatures are forecast for the low 50's--almost 20 degrees warmer than yesterday. But, it never rose above 41 degrees, remaining cool, damp and dreary all day. Dismal indeed!

Warm and cloudy

01/17/12, 9 pm, looking east

Tuesday was overcast most of the day with frequent light showers amounting to only a trace of rain. The high was 62 degrees F slightly lower than the forecast of 65. With uniformly overcast skies, there was little interesting cloud formations until after 5 pm when the clouds broke up into jutting cumulus forms that allowed vistas of a pale cerulean sky. Sorry that I was unable to paint at that time.


I was consoled by these little white puffs that rode the northeasterly winds at 9 pm. That's the way this year project has worked, serendipity. Look up and there they are, silhouetted against a gray sky, little white puffs of cumulus clouds looking like they are very busy and have someplace important to go.

Saturday, September 10th

Well, after a long day this little night cloud was the best I could eke out. Against a uniformly overcast night sky with ambient light from the city, this lone cloud rode a small breeze northward. This sad little cloud was painted about 10:30 pm facing west.