Figure 1 – Mackeral Skies, cirrocumulus clouds over Salem, MA, October 25, 2019. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

The sky here on the North Shore of Massachusetts often takes on dramatic aspects. As a break from Halloween, I’d like to share the image of Figure 1, which shows what I believe are cirrocumulus clouds forming what are referred to as a  Mackeral sky. “Mackerel sky and mares’ tails make tall ships carry low sails.” So goes an old mariners’ rhyme, referring to skies of rippled cirrocumulus clouds that resemble the striped scale pattern of a mackerel. While the pattern was striking in and of itself, I thought that it would benefit from stylization using the PRISMA program.