Part of being able to forecast comes from reading the sky, because so much of what’s taking place in the atmosphere can be seen visually. When I worked the forecast counter in the Air Force, I occasionally stepped over to the window for a quick look while filling out the weather briefing forms. The pilots often caught notice of this. I remember one B-1B Lancer pilot who turned to his fellow crewmembers and said, “Now that’s what I like to see! This forecaster doesn’t miss anything.”
When taking in visual clues, forecasters look for signs of wind behavior, dust plumes, haze layers, patches of fog, unusual phenomena on the horizon, and the general appearance and color of the sky. But we most rely on the clouds and how they’re shaped and textured. When clouds are present there’s a lot of information at hand, and that’s what we’ll look at here.
