Relatively Rare (Possibly!) Asperatus Clouds Create Weird Vermont Skies

Before sunset, the odd clouds overhead in St. Albans, Vermont
on Tuesday consisted mostly of bluish and gray waves.

On Tuesday, an overcast, sprinkly, somewhat chilly day here in St. Albans, Vermont, the sky definitely got weird.  

What appears to be a fairly rare cloud called undulatus asperatus graced the skies. This type of overcast looks sort of like what a choppy sea must resemble if viewed from just under the water's surface.

This cloud was only recognized as its own category of cloud by the World Meteorological Organization back in 2017.  

The headline on the linked article is titled "Earth's Newest Cloud Is Terrifying," but not really.

In some cases, asperatus clouds do look threatening.  The ones over St. Albans on Tuesday were just weird.  You are not in danger if any of these clouds happen to be overhead. 

I'm not entirely sure these were true asperatus clouds over St. Albans.  They usually form near convective showers and thunderstorms.  While there were some weak showers in the area, there weren't any robust storms nearby. So they might just be cool clouds. 

I'll leave readers and the experts to judge.

Keep scrolling for more photos of the clouds, and at the bottom of the photos is a quick YouTube video I put together of the phenomenon.  You'll need to click on this link to view the video on mobile devices.

The setting sun began to add color to the strange skies. 

Between the odd clouds and the setting sun lighting up
trees in a strange orange hue, it suddenly felt like
St. Albans, Vermont was on some other planet. 

Sunset and odd clouds on Oct. 19 over St. Albans, Vermont.

Here's the video: Click on the arrow, and then the YouTube logo to view in fuller size: