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Luke Howard- The Cloud Namer
Luke Howard was born on November 28, 1772 in London, England. -
Quaker School
Luke attended the Quaker School at Burford in Oxfordshire. -
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History of Cloud Naming
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Jean Baptiste Lamark
Jean Baptiste Lamark was born on August 1, 1744 in Bazentin, Picardie. -
Nimbus Clouds
Nimbus clouds (means rain in Latin) are clouds that can produce rain, snow, hail and sleet. Nimbostratus is a dense layer that is beneath 8,000 ft and obstruct sunslight. Cumulonimbus clouds carry the thunderstorms with other intense weather conditions with it. They are the clouds that can form a super cell. -
The Royal Society
In later years Luke was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and joined the Meteorological Society. -
Cirrus Clouds
Cirrus are thin, wispy clouds blown by high winds into streamers. They are about 20,000 ft. above ground and usually move across the sky from west to east. Cirrostratus clouds are so thin that the sun or moon can be seen through them while cirrocumulus clouds are small rounded white puffs. -
Publisher
Luke published a variey of books; The Climate of London, Seven Lectures on Meteorology, A Cycle of Eighteen Years in the Seasons of Britain and Barometrographia. -
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Jean Baptiste Lamarck tried to name the clouds himself. He was from France. His schemes was inspired by Carl von Linne, who was a taxonomist. -
Cumulus Clouds
Luke used Latin for the clouds names. Cumulus clouds are heaps of clouds that are maybe 330 ft. above the ground. They look like cotton balls in the sky, but when the tops look like a cauliflower they are classified as cumulus congestus or towering cumulus. If they grow upwards they would be classified as cumulonimbus. -
Luke Howard's Fascination
Luke became fascinated in nature and weather (particularly clouds) in 1783. On August 18th Luke watched a fiery meteor flash across the sky. He was only eleven years old at the time. -
Stratus Clouds
Stratus clouds are clouds that often cover the entire sky. Stratus means layer in Latin. These clouds usually have no precipitation, but they many drizzle. Another form of stratus clouds are the nimbostratus clouds. They produce rain and snow in small to moderate amounts. -
Luke Howard Presents His Classification
During December 1802, Luke presented a paper to the Askesian Society, it was titled "On the Modification of Clouds". He proposed that someone could identify simple categories within the clouds.