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Cloudy but fine
Posted: Mon 17/07/2017 07:32
by Richard
'Cloudy but fine', this was a term used on the radio this morning, i'm sure there has been a brief discussion before on here before, but...
Ive always believed that the word fine meant a clear sky, and 'mostly fine' would mean some cloud but mostly fine, i cant stand this cloudy but fine though, they are just about opposites -white and black, up or down, cloud cover- no cloud cover, so if you can have cloudy but fine what word describes a sky clear of any cloud?
Re: Cloudy but fine
Posted: Mon 17/07/2017 08:37
by Nev
I agree, '
cloudy but fine' does seem a little contradictory. Maybe they meant '
cloudy, becoming fine'?
However, there are also different degrees of cloudiness. And '
fine' isn't quite the same as '
clear'.
MS had a slightly better definition of '
fine' when you queried it back in
2012, i.e. ...
Fine: Dry weather during which conditions are mostly sunny or bright. Even if there are scattered clouds or a thin veil of high cloud over the sky, shadows are cast by the sun most of the time.
And from their more recent '
Weather Terms' Blog…
Dry Weather
Fine: Weather in which the sun casts a shadow for most of the time. Rachel Kirkman wrote a blog piece about fine weather earlier this year, you can find that
here.
Sunny: Any clouds that may be present are not expected to obscure the sun.
Clear skies: Implies high confidence that there will be very few (if any) clouds.
Cloudy periods/Sunny spells/Fine spells: All these phrases essentially mean the same thing; that the sun will be obscured by cloud at times during the day. The only difference is the emphasis placed on the first word of the phrase. Therefore, we usually use “cloudy periods” when there is expected to be more cloud than sun, and “fine spells” when there is expected to be more sun than cloud.
Partly cloudy: When the sky is partly covered by cloud at any given location.
Cloudy/Mostly cloudy: Predominantly more cloud than clear sky. Cloud expected to cover approximately 70 to 100% of the sky for the majority of the day.
Overcast: Sky completely covered with cloud. Cloud expected to cover 100% of the sky for the majority of the day.
Low cloud: Stratus cloud base is expected to be lower than the tops of hills or significant landmarks (eg. Auckland’s Sky Tower 328m).
High cloud: Cirrus, cirrostratus or cirrocumulus (cloud base above 5000 metres).
Re: Cloudy but fine
Posted: Mon 17/07/2017 09:10
by TonyT
I use "cloudy and dry" or "cloudy but dry" when writing forecasts. I also use "fine with some cloud at times" which kind of sums up what fine means I think.
Re: Cloudy but fine
Posted: Mon 17/07/2017 09:35
by Nev
Actually, I guess one could describe this morn's sky looking towards Akld as both '
cloudy and fine'…
Waiheke sky - Jul 17.jpg
Re: Cloudy but fine
Posted: Mon 17/07/2017 10:44
by Richard
yes thats tricky one Nev, thats a mostly fine with some thin high cloud