I am a frequent flyer and have been logging sky miles for about 40 years. Yet each flight remains exciting, largely because of the wonders that await my eyes each time I rise to cruising altitude and glimpse the beauty of the cloudscape below. Although there are similarities in my cloud-watching experiences each time I fly, there are enough nuances and differences to leave me awestruck every time.

Most cloud charts or books that describe what clouds look like from the ground show individual pictures of clouds. But clouds are often seen in formation with other clouds, and it is the spatial variations among these formations that actually help us identify them and their causal weather systems. We can make short-period weather forecasts using the presence of multiple cloud types, especially in terms of their arrival times; the clouds with which they are seen; the directions the clouds move at different altitudes; and other factors.

—H. MICHAEL MOGIL is a certified consulting/forensic meteorologist. In addition to a 27-year career with NOAA, Mike owns HOW THE WEATHERWORKS, a science/math educational consulting company. He is the author of Extreme Weather, published by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers in 2007.