People have always been interested in the atmosphere and clouds but throughout history they have often found the weather difficult to understand. It was beyond their knowledge for ages until science stepped in, slowly revealing pieces of the weather puzzle during the last century.
A little boy named Luke Howard was fascinated by the clouds and atmosphere from an early age. Eventually, Howard became a pharmacist, but he was still amazed by the power and beauty of clouds and continued to be curious about it. He found a brilliant way to classify clouds using Latin terms such as cirrus, cumulus, stratus and it all happened over a hundred years ago!
In the meantime, meteorology continued to develop. First planes started to cruise the sky and scientists learned more about the mysterious atmosphere. Next, a technology revolution was followed by a tremendous effort to translate theoretical knowledge, which had been built throughout the centuries, and describe it using very complex mathematical equations and computer models. For the very first time meteorologists were able to predict the future state of the atmosphere and present it to the public through weather forecasts.
Although we can say that we live in an age of technology, meteorologists around the globe are still fascinated by the complexity and beauty of the weather created by one specific cloud – the Cumulonimbus.
An absolute rock star of the clouds, also known as Cb, the Cumulonimbus rumbles furiously as it explodes in the sky over our heads during warm summer days, startling not only naturally curious children, but people of all ages all around the world. This ultimate ruler of the storm season amazes meteorologists, artists, photographers and storm-chasers alike over and over again. Sometimes, when conditions are favourable, a group of Cb‘s can create extremely powerful and dangerous storms, producing not only damaging winds, heavy rain and lightning but also giant hail and even tornadoes!
It has been a long journey from classifying, understanding and forecasting clouds to finally being able to magically bring these forecasts to everyone’s fingertips in an instant with apps such as MORECAST. Nonetheless, MORECAST’s expert team will continue to update you not only about fun and significant weather facts but also to guide you through any unseasonable or severe weather worldwide!