“Aren’t the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton … I could just lie here all day, and watch them drift by … If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations … What do you think you see, Linus?”

“Well, those clouds up there look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean … That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor … And that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen … I can see the apostle Paul standing there to one side…”

“Uh huh … That’s very good … What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?”

“Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsey, but I changed my mind!”

~ Charles M. Schulz, ‘The Complete Peanuts’

A few storms past, my sister living on the California central coast had an interesting mostly-weather related observation. Keep in mind, most of the time our heads are in the clouds; between last month’s rainstorms we were comparing rainfall totals and such (we are both amateur meteorologists).

“Sue, you know La Crescenta has good clouds.” Now, what exactly does that mean? Several factors come into play here.

First off, the frequent winds, especially the Santa Anas, come into play. They blow air impurities from the San Gabriel Mountains. In doing so, the sky’s blue color intensifies, making for an ideal backdrop for clouds.

A couple of other factors affect local cloud quality. The jet stream sends clouds in our direction as it meets the mountains and continues to rise. Now water saturated, it rains! It’s all very scientifically complex. Now, I’ll let the meteorologist take over.

Last Friday we were driving westward on the 210. Cloud viewing conditions were pristine. Across the vast San Fernando, I counted at least five or six cloud formations at various elevations. One small and dark front indicated rain in the distance as defined by long misty tendrils coming down from the clouds. Cumulous clouds appeared to be racing to see which could reach the highest height. “Let’s go fly a kite!”

The sun shined on all beneath it to accentuate each to its finest so, yes, the Crescenta Valley has good clouds.

Long range forecast is not favorable for any storms through the next couple of weeks … at least.

“And from the midst of cheerless gloom, I passed to bright unclouded day.”
~ author Emily Brontë