Predicting weather

[Devrij]

I woke up this morning to the sound of my windows being rattled by the wind and thought to myself "sounds like a horrible day outside".

I stepped out to go to work and was met by the most incredible sunrise sky I've ever seen with these electric blue streaks scoring a hot orange canvas. With no time to grab my SLR I took some sub-par snaps with my phone and rushed off to the train.

How do I predict those sorts of conditions? The weather sites tell you rain or shine, hot or cold, but where do I go to find out what conditions are going to provide that balance of interesting cloud with enough space to let light through etc.

Where can I get a crash course on meteorology for togs?

 

[Devrij]

I hadn't considered using the rhyme backwards like that! I don't want to get up really early on the weekend because of a predicted storm and find myself outside in, well, a storm. Good points though. From the reading I've done, it seems alto-cirrus and alto-cumulus clouds are what I want, but I don't know what atmospheric conditions produce them.

I'm guessing it's just hit and miss a bit, but I'd like to know roughly whether it's worth setting the alarm for a saturday morning with some idea of whether it'll be a decent shoot.

 

[Devrij]

Sadly there is more to it than that for a decent sunrise/sunset and our dumbed down weather services give us less and less information beyond temperature and rainfall by the day.

Unfortunately it is a bit hit and miss and if you want that perfect shot in a great location there are going to be a few freezing cold mornings/evenings of time wasted waiting.

That's exactly the problem I face. I see the weather, it says "clear". I think "boring sky". It says "cloudy" I think "dark sky", but in practice those clouds might create some amazing sunrise shots. I wish I could order good skies for the days I needed them. "Hello, I'd like to book some towering thunderheads for this evening, and maybe some wispy cirrus for the weekend please."