photo #6854123

Whispy Cirrus clouds can take on an erratic appearance as they’re subjected to high winds that vary greatly with altitude. When the ice-crystal trails that make up this cloud fall through erratically varying winds like this, they’re drawn this way and that to form a variety known as Cirrus intortus. Its name comes from the Latin for ‘twisted’ or ‘tangled’. Dan Chaney (Member 63,013) spotted these disordered Cirrus intortus clouds above Albuquerque, New Mexico, US. ‘They were moving fast,’ he recalls. A formation like this invading the sky can indicate a change in the weather conditions – perhaps with winds picking up. ‘On the ground,’ Dan said, ‘it was calm. But that all changed in the early afternoon.’