Herringbone Sky

I never tire of watching the sky from our cabin deck. When we lived near Los Angeles, California, the sky didn't attract my attention as much. Each day was much the same as the one before.

Up the lake, the sky changes daily, hourly, by the minute. Looking south, I saw herringbone clouds over the treetops. Folklore says, "Herringbone sky, neither too wet nor too dry."


You can see why it gets the herringbone name. The clouds look just like the bones of the tiny fish that's an important part of the ocean's food chain (see this article about a herring spawn here in Powell River).

Herringbone clouds are of the altocumulus variety ranging from 6,500 to 20,000 feet AGL (above ground level). They occur during high level steady winds and contain super-cooled water droplets. -- Margy