Those Puffy White Clouds

Do you remember learning the names of the clouds? Cumulus are the tall, fluffy clouds that sometimes look as if they are sitting on an invisible plane of glass. Cirrus clouds are thin and feathery. Stratus clouds are almost formless. Stratus clouds are the most often seen formation when it’s drizzling.

While writing a portion of my novel (yet to be published), I wanted to include some cumulus clouds in one scene. My main character, Jeb Brown, is educated, so I wondered if he might know the clouds by their scientific names. Since my book is set in the 1600s, the answer would be “no.”

Luke Howard was born in 1772. He spent thirty years observing the clouds and is credited for naming them. The names he chose are obvious, if you know Latin. In Latin, cumulus means ‘heap’, cirrus means ‘hair’, and stratus means ‘layer’. Thus, the puffy white clouds in my book are cumulus clouds, but they hadn’t yet been named. So, the description remains “puffy, white clouds.” But when you read my book, you’ll know which clouds I mean.