nacreous cloud

Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to nacreous cloud: Noctilucent cloud, Polar stratospheric cloud

nacreous cloud

A stratospheric cloud resembling a cirrus, showing iridescent coloration when the sun is several degrees below the horizon.

[From nacre (from the iridescent coloring of mother-of-pearl).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

nacreous cloud - a luminous iridescent cloud at a high altitude that may be seen when the sun is a few degrees below the horizon

mother-of-pearl cloud

cloud - a visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

5c) is more similar to that for the nacreous cloud (Fig.

THE SKY IN EDVARD MUNCH'S THE SCREAM

Nacreous clouds - to give them their scientific name - are a weather phenomenon caused by low winter sunlight bouncing off small ice crystals in the clouds.

Thousands across the North East spotted rainbow clouds in the sky - but what are they? Nacreous clouds - known as rainbow clouds - are a weather phenomenon caused by low winter sunlight; Nacreous clouds - known as rainbow clouds - are a weather phenomenon caused by low winter sunlight

The iridescent nacreous clouds - considered rare as they are usually found only in very cool air - come from ice crystals refracting the sun's rays.

Scotland: The only country where the waterfalls flow UP; STORM HENRY THE AFTERMATH Rare sight as winter weatherbomb turns Mother Nature on her head

Incredibly, gusts reached 144mph in the Cairngorm mountains and there were nacreous clouds, which the Met Office said are usually seen in polar regions.

Gertrude leaves trail of chaos in her wake

In "Nacreous Clouds," Legler depicts half the population of McMurdo turning out to see "clouds that glimmered like pearl, like fire, like incandescent potassium."

Mysteries! The solid earth!

Meteorological officer Renae Baker captured spectacular images of the nacreous clouds, on July 25.

Strangeworld

Meteorological officer Renae Baker captured spectacular images of the nacreous clouds, also known as polar stratospheric clouds, on July 25.

NEWS DIGEST: Cold clouds

A few of her paintings have only clouds, but many feature colorful and unusual atmospheric sightings such as nacreous clouds, eclipses or rosy lightning.

Paint by magic: Jessica Park is known for her "Pop Architectural" works--not her disability

and northern Europe, Veikko Makela of Helsinki, Finland, has communicated a little-known distinction between these rare, nacreous clouds and the noctilucent clouds more often seen at high latitudes (see the July 1994 issue, page 76).