Astronomy, Photography and Weather

Hello all,
I was recently reading about fallstreak holes on the web and looking at some impressive photos taken in the states and a couple of weeks ago, I took this photo http://img259.imageshack.us/i/cloudsn.jpg (http://img259.imageshack.us/i/cloudsn.jpg) and was wondering, would these be considered fallstreak holes? The photo is nowhere near as impressive as those I have seen on the web however.

Also is there a difference in fallstreak holes and punch hole clouds? Has it got to do with the presence of streaks? I see wikipedia implies they are all the same, while others refer to them differently.

Regarding the white streaks that can be seen in the photo, I understand that they are ice particles raining downward and evaporating again where they disappear. Is this correct? And if so, is it true that any time I see white streaks in the sky, they are ice particles raining downward?

Finally, how common an occurrence are fallstreak clouds, say in ireland? and worldwide? Does geographical location have an influence on the likelihood of seeing them. I would have assumed no but am interested to know for sure

Thanks.

Hi Frankie. It looks like a fallstreak to me but there are far better qualified members on here  to tell you than me, so I'll leave it to them to judge it.

I go chasing  to the US every Spring and as you say,there are great shots around, I took this one in 2008.

(http://i53.tinypic.com/2ns5c05.jpg)

Hello Frankie, welcome to the forum. I live in Oregon and have noticed formations like that in high clouds after our big winter storms roll through, never thought too much about them. I'll have to watch for them this rainy season. Thanks for the heads-up.

Hi Frankie and welcome to the forum!. Thanks for sharing your image on here with us, it looks like a possible fall streak hole. Fall streaks and punch hole clouds (I never heard of the latter so that's new to me) are the same phenomena, and the ice crystal streaks are called virga or 'jelly fish' clouds, these are most dramatic when hanging straight down from alto cumulus clouds and can look very dramatic, especially when ice rich clouds move in ahead of a major frontal system or storm/LP system. I saw a spectacular display of these in the Winter of 2007 covering the entire sky before sunset before a major Atlantic storm moved in (which hid comet McNaught at the time). If there are strong upper level winds then the streaks will be trailed out in a horizontal fashion.

I've never seen a fall streak hole from here before however I'm sure they happen, as for their frequency - I have no idea  :)

Many thanks for the replies. You've all been quite helpful.
This photo was taken in a town just south of Madrid in Spain. I had just been reading about fallstreak holes a couple of days before and looking at some of the impressive photos on the web when I came across these in the evening sky. I'll be keeping an eye out for more in the future and hopefully get some better photos.

Also can someone please advise me on how to get my photos to appear here on the forum. yesterday when i posted I was unable to acheieve this. I used the <img> tags with the link in between them but it didn't work, so I had to resort to just putting in a link.

Thanks again.

Hi Frankie, welcome to the forum. Try using http://tinypic.com/  and copy and paste the image link into your post. Usual size used is 850 wide, HTH's.

Hi again,
Just thought I'd share this image of a fallstreak hole, a bit more impressive than my last one.


Happened to see it out the window of where I work and took this shot with the mobile phone.

(http://i56.tinypic.com/25hluo0.jpg)

That's a very impressive image Frankie! - love the structure to the cirrus and the nice alto cu. Congrats on the catch, I have yet to image one of these myself, you have me out looking for them now  :)

Hello again,
Just thought I'd pop back and post another few images I obtained of more fallstreak holes.

This one shows one in the distance on the right, with a sundog on the left. I think I can make out the other sundog inside the actual hole (Although with the reduced resolution, I'm not sure its so easy). This could have been a really nice photo if I had had a zoom lens and or better imagination.

(http://i53.tinypic.com/xmso4w.jpg)



The same fallstreak hole, at 55mm, a little later on.

(http://i54.tinypic.com/xg9p0.jpg)


Another one began to form to the right of the first one, in or around the same place where the first one formed. At one stage I could see 5 of these in different parts of the sky. Unfortunately, they were all quite a few miles away, so no spectacular photos. We've been having these alto-cumulus clouds hanging around this neck of the woods for quite a few days now. Hopefully they hang around for the weekend!

(http://i54.tinypic.com/2zo9a8k.jpg)

Hi Frankie, those are great images where are they taken from? I have never seen these other than in books, you have me watching for them now as well, I would love to get these on image. Keep posting your results.

Thanks for the comments.

These photos were taken in Spain, south of Madrid, just inside the province of Toledo.

If I have any more luck with them, I'll post the images.

Cheers

Excellent - more pickies please!  8)

Excellent job Frankie catching more of these fallstreak holes, and I have yet to see my first. I'm very impressed with the first image showing the FSH and sundog so close to one another, add to that the complex alto cumulus clouds and you have a lovely scene  :)