Why is that rain cloud so dark? 

That's one of the most common questions I hear when making weather presentations. 

It is also one of the simplest to answer. 

Read on!

Here are some really fun pictures you can create using just a blue sky, some clouds in the sky, and various props of your of choosing. The best part: No photo editing is needed! Yet the end result will look so amazing, that people will think your photos aren't real. Have a look...

From the ground, it just looks cloudy. But as you go up in an airplane, you see the makeup of the atmosphere is much more complex, with several layers of clouds making up the overcast we see from our backyard. If you know how to read the Skew-T weather map, you can figure out exactly how high those clouds are, layer by layer!

Gee whiz that weather map looks cool.

Ever wonder what all of those numbers and symbols mean?

Here are the answers! 

"It's raining outside, but the weatherman (and my hair) tells me the relative humidity is less than 100%. How does that work?"

That is something I hear a lot! The explanation is quite simple.

It's not a sign telling us the end of the world is near, it's not a sign of the Second Coming of Christ, heck it's not much of a sign at all. It is, however, a beautiful thing we sometimes see in the night sky. It's another beautiful part of nature. It's the ring around the moon.

Bright sunshine awakens you on a cold winter morning. There's not a cloud in the sky. But as you look out the window, you see the ground, the trees, the cars - everything, covered with white.

It didn't snow, so where did all that white stuff come from?

The temperature is below freezing and precipitation is falling from the sky.

It ought to be snow. But it's not. It's rain that is freezing on everything making life dangerous and miserable for everyone. Why ice?

As I walked out the door this morning, I turned to my wife and said, "I know we used to have neighbors. There was a house right across the street... now it's gone!"

Keep in mind, I work late at night, so walking my wife to her car at 7am is the middle of the night for me. I'm not sure if my eyes are just glazed over, or if the neighborhood has disappeared into a sea of gray muck.

"Oh great," says Mrs. WeathermanTim. "It'll take me forever to get to work this morning."

Ah yes, fog.

How many times have you looked up toward the clouds and thought you recognized a familiar shape in the cloud formations?

What do you see here? Can you make out the shapes in these two clouds?

See the answers below...