NIMBUSAn Atlas of Skies Guide

A field survey of the upper air · First edition

NIMBUS

An Atlas of Skies

Six plates, each a living sky drawn in real time. No photographs, no film. Only arithmetic and air, paired with a haiku and one honest line of meteorology.

  1. I · Golden Hour
  2. II · Squall
  3. III · Snowfall
  4. IV · Fog
  5. V · Aurora
  6. VI · Meteors
Plate I

Golden Hour

48.78° N, 123.64° W · 21:14 local · +19 °C

the day exhales goldclouds drift like unhurried thoughtseven shadows warm

Altocumulus under a low sun. Long-path Rayleigh scattering strips the blue and leaves amber.

Plate II

Squall

46.21° N, 4.90° W · 17:42 local · +14 °C

slate clouds hold their breathone seam of white splits the darkrain answers in full

Mature cumulonimbus. Cloud-to-ground strokes near 30 kA, thunder lagging five seconds a mile.

Plate III

Snowfall

62.10° N, 9.70° E · 08:03 local · −15 °C

each flake takes its timethe wind rewrites every paththe field forgets ours

Dendritic growth zone, minus fifteen. Light shear lays each crystal down a little west of the last.

Plate IV

Fog

52.44° N, 1.12° E · 06:37 local · +7 °C

the valley withdrawstrees become rumors of treesthen the far shore goes

Radiation fog. Overnight cooling to the dew point; visibility under one kilometre by dawn.

Plate V

Aurora

67.90° N, 20.23° E · 23:58 local · −21 °C

solar wind arrivesgreen silk drawn across the poleno one applauds it

Substorm conditions. Solar wind electrons strike oxygen at 100 km; the green line sits at 557.7 nm.

Plate VI

Meteors

24.63° S, 70.40° W · 03:12 local · +2 °C

old light, patient lighta stone burns its one bright linethe stars do not blink

Perseid stream. Cometary grains entering at 59 km/s, burning out across the mesopause.

Endpaper

Colophon

NIMBUS is an atlas with no fixed pages. Every sky in this volume is generated the moment you look at it: the clouds you watched drift on Plate I will never drift that way again, the lightning on Plate II struck for you alone, and the snow on Plate III fell where your visit let it settle.

The plates are drawn by small particle systems, a few thousand arithmetic decisions per frame standing in for weather that makes trillions. The haiku are original. The meteorology is real. If you prefer your skies still, the atlas honors reduced-motion settings and prints each plate as a single painted frame.

  1. IGolden Hourthe day exhales gold
  2. IISquallslate clouds hold their breath
  3. IIISnowfalleach flake takes its time
  4. IVFogthe valley withdraws
  5. VAurorasolar wind arrives
  6. VIMeteorsold light, patient light