8 October 2009
Rare Asperatus Clouds Over Osage County Oklahoma
Posted by Dan Satterfield
I wrote a post awhile back about ASPERATUS clouds and the Cloud Appreciation Society trying to get them officially added as a cloud type by the World Meteorological Organization.
Well, sometimes you run into some luck. Read on..
While visiting my Mother in Oklahoma on Wednesday, I decided to drive up to Woolaroc Museum near Bartlesville. It’s a truly beautiful drive across the prairie from Tulsa. Near the museum is the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. This preserve was bought by the Nature Conservancy. It’s protected a huge area of native prairie to the northwest of Pawhuska.
There were once millions of acres of unbroken prairie stretching from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Only around 10% remains. Another large area is federally protected in Kansas.
Woolaroc is a must see if you find yourself in Oklahoma, and so is the Tall Grass. Be warned, the roads through the prairie preserve are gravel to protect it.
We were racing against an approaching storm system that was going to turn the bright blue western sky into cloud and rain by evening, but that turned out to be a good thing! A beautiful display of ASPERATUS clouds developed over the prairie and lasted for 45 minutes as we drove back toward Skiatook.
Oh, and quit laughing about the Cloud Appreciation Society!
I’m a member!
Later,
Dan
I do not know what the heck “asperatus…asp…whatever” clouds are, but they are pretty. I love your website. And the Bill Maher piece on Inhofe? I sent it to everyone I know and then posted it to my Facebook page.
All the best,
Paula