Colorado Cloud Atlas: Big Sky Country!

Montana is often referred to as Big Sky Country.
But I think that Colorado gives Montana
a run for its money when it comes to big sky!

Every day in Colorado is a glorious free show.
All you have to do is look up.

Big Sky Country, Colorado Style

Last Friday as I walked to Parkway Bar and Grill
for the Ever~Patient's and my Friday Night Date Night,
I was treated to some spectacular clouds.

Altocumulus-Castellanus

I often see altocumulus-castellanus clouds on sunny days.  

They can portend thunderstorms later in the day.

  

These clouds have turreted or tower-like projections 

that billow up from the base of the clouds, 

and they can be very beautiful.  

Most clouds form in the troposphere, 

the lowest part of Earth's atmosphere.

  

Altocumulus-castellanus clouds are mid-level clouds 

that occur at 6,500 - 20,000 feet or 2,000 - 6,000 meters.

Source:  Wikipedia 

Cumulus Congestus

Sure enough, as I walked to where I could see toward the west,

the altocumulus-castellanus clouds

quickly graded into cumulus congestus clouds.

These clouds, also known as towering cumulus,

are found in the mid-level of the troposphere.

Their tops look like cauliflower,

and they can produce light rain.

Source: windows2universe  

Cumulus Congestus

Talk about cauliflower in the sky!

A cloud like this makes me walk very fast!

Cauliflower in the Sky!

I made it to Parkway safe and dry ~
No big, billowing cumulonimbus showed up this time.

Late Monday afternoon,

it was a story with a different ending.

Cumulonimbus clouds rolled in, 

the skies opened up,

lightning flashed,

and thunder exploded.

Classic Cumulonimbus Cloud

Taken from Our Deck in August 2009

Cumulonimbus clouds 

are very tall and very large clouds.

They can extend throughout the troposphere 

from 6,500 - 60,000 feet or 2,000 - 16,000 meters.

Source:  Wikipedia

Cumulonimbus clouds are often found

together with low-level cumulus clouds.

Cumulus clouds develop 

below cumulonimbus clouds

at an altitude of less than 

6,500 feet or 2,000 meters.

Source:  Wikipedia

Do you know that in Colorado we have a monsoon?

Our monsoon is part of the annual monsoon that occurs

in the southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico.

Our monsoon typically begins in mid-July

and lasts until the end of August.

A shift in winds to the south
results in more moisture moving into Colorado
from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

It doesn't rain every day, 

but rain takes place in a pattern of bursts and breaks.
Source:  NOAA

When we get a monsoon rainstorm,
it can be violent with heavy rainfall,
strong thunder and lightning, 
and sometimes shredding hail.

Flash floods can ravage the landscape,
especially in areas that have recently burned.

 Manitou Springs, Flash Flood, August 2013

Usually the biggest excitement 

during the monsoon rains 

is golfers fleeing the golf course.

Sometimes rain can pound down

when blue sky is close by.

Sometimes it can be raining 

on one side of our house

and not on the other!

Rain in the Distance,

No Rain Here,

Rain on the Backside of Our House (above)

And some days, like on Monday,

something special, almost magical,

happens!

I wish my camera could capture 

the beauty of our Colorado rainbows! 

Big Sky Country ~ Colorado style is spectacular!

And so are unexpected rainbows in your life!

An Unexpected Rainbow on My Grocery List!

This song, like a rainbow, can brighten any day:

US3 ~ Cantaloop

Source:  YouTube emimusic