Cloud Identification Argument Ruins Hike For Everyone

A group hike in the Appalachian Mountains was rendered socially unbearable after two amateur meteorology enthusiasts spent the entire 6-mile trail debating whether a mid-level cloud formation was altocumulus or stratocumulus. The debate began at the trailhead at 9:15 a.m. when hiker and weather enthusiast Douglas Anviltop pointed to a layer of clouds at approximately 8,000 feet and identified them as altocumulus. Fellow enthusiast Brenda Castellanus immediately disagreed, classifying them as stratocumulus. "Altocumulus occurs between 6,500 and 20,000 feet," Anviltop stated, adjusting his barometric altimeter watch. "The base is clearly above 6,500 feet. The individual elements are smaller than my fist held at arm's length, which is the traditional field test. Altocumulus." "The elements are lumpy and irregular," Castellanus countered. "Stratocumulus. The base height alone doesn't determine the genus. Look at the opacity — you can't see the sun through them. That's a stratiform characteristic. Stratocumulus." The debate consumed the first mile. By mile two, it had expanded to include the sub-classifications: was it altocumulus translucidus or altocumulus opacus? Was it stratocumulus stratiformis or stratocumulus castellanus? "At mile three, I asked them to stop," reported fellow hiker Janet, whose surname was not obtained because she left the group at the midpoint turnaround. "They didn't stop. Douglas pulled out a cloud identification chart. Brenda pulled out a different cloud identification chart. The charts disagreed. They debated the charts." By mile five, the clouds had dissipated entirely, removing the physical evidence from the dispute but not the dispute itself. Both participants continued to argue about what the clouds had been while they existed. "The clouds are gone," Janet observed from the parking lot, having completed the hike in silence and solitude. "The argument is not." Anviltop and Castellanus have agreed to submit photographs taken during the hike to the Cloud Appreciation Society for an official ruling. Neither is confident the ruling will be accepted by the other.