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Contrails Or Is The Atmosphere Cracking Up?


Azores Hi

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Posted
  • Location: Ashford, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Anything
  • Location: Ashford, Kent

I was looking at today's sat loop and I noticed strange spiderweb formations in the upper clouds to the west of Scotland. Are these contrails? If so how are they maintaining their definition so well across hundreds of miles? If not, what is it?

I have psted the link below, maybe some clever bod can get a screen shot of what I'm on about so that it isn't lost when it gets updated.

http://www.sat24.com/gb

Edit managed to get a still shot

image.gif

Edited by Azores Hi
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Posted
  • Location: Ashford, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Anything
  • Location: Ashford, Kent

Hmm, prehaps I should have mentioned snow in the title, this may have got more attention :rofl

Anyone got any ideas?

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

tey may be contrails but to be sure when you look next time also check the infra red image as they will show up better on there.

Contrails do last for quite long periods and over relatively long distances when the various factors are right.

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Posted
  • Location: Ashford, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Anything
  • Location: Ashford, Kent

Thanks for the tip about infrared John.

To be honest, I'm sure they are contrails as I'm at a loss to explain them otherwise. It's a shame because on the loop it really stood out that they retained their defininition as the upper airmass moved across a vast swath of ocean, Ireland right the way to the north of Scotland. But as you say, if the conditions are right this seems plausable but at the same time it struck me as rather rare and I certainly have not seen it before. Which is why I posted the image.

Many thanks again.

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Posted
  • Location: Ashford, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Anything
  • Location: Ashford, Kent

I've taken a look at the infrared image archive from meteox and the resolution is a bit poor, it just shows a white blob so I won't even bother to post it. What is interesting is a close up view of that area, the formations seem to be branching out more than is apparent on the wider view.

On closer inspection I become less convinced that these are contrails, I will try and post up a close up view but I'm not sure I have the technology!

Yay! Did it I hope!

image3.gif

Edited by Azores Hi
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Posted
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Location: Edinburgh

I'm not convinced they are contrails just because from what I've seen before they are too defined and over too large an area, that and a gut feeling. The only thing I can thing that goes near to any kinda of reason would be if there was some interaction between upper air pressure and the cloud mass or something of the like.

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  • 11 months later...
Posted
  • Location: Shrewsbury
  • Location: Shrewsbury

Easy. More Aircraft Pollution sorry Contrails. They have no problem persisting for 24 hours, and travelling hundreds of miles from their source region. I think some of these might even be American-origin ones to be honest, there are some pointing SSW-NNE which don't tally with the main Transatlantic routes. Unless there's a Knock-Spitsbergen service I don't know about!

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