Where are the Contrails?

It is a bright cloudless day in the South West of the U.K and despite all the usual aviation activity, there are no contrails? When I say contrails, I mean the ones that seem to stay in the sky for hours and not the ones that dissappear within 10 minutes.

I have repeatedly been advised that Autumn/Winter is Contrail season, yet despite the drop in temperature, nothing,

Can someone, please explain how this can be so?

I see some outside right now. I took some pics this morning too. I call them chemtrails though

I might even upload the pics once I get home.

reply to post by Cobaltic1978


Since it is contrail season, you will be seeing more on average. That doesn't mean every day. It snows in winter, but does it have to be snowing if it is a day in winter? Of course not.

Come on.

Thats like saying because it is cold, why isnt it snowing outside?

Its a combination of factors that come into play, and winter is more likely to have more prominent contrails. That does not mean EVERY day when it is cold MUST have long lasting contrails.

Originally posted by adeclerk
reply to post by Cobaltic1978

 

Since it is contrail season, you will be seeing more on average. That doesn't mean every day. It snows in winter, but does it have to be snowing if it is a day in winter? Of course not.

Come on.

I have seen a lot less lately. The whole "it's contrail season" excuse has been debunked so many times it's funny you guys are still using it.

Originally posted by Corruption Exposed

Originally posted by adeclerk
reply to post by Cobaltic1978

 

Since it is contrail season, you will be seeing more on average. That doesn't mean every day. It snows in winter, but does it have to be snowing if it is a day in winter? Of course not.

Come on.

I have seen a lot less lately. The whole "it's contrail season" excuse has been debunked so many times it's funny you guys are still using it.

If you think it has nothing to do with cold air temperature, then why are not there contrails at every altitude then?

reply to post by adeclerk


I appreciate what you are saying, but none?

I am continuously being told that any trails in the sky are purely Contrails, the weather is a lot colder than recent, so I would expect to see a lot more, no? So, please explain, rather than try to shoot me down.

Afterall, without asking the reasons why, people could jump to conclusions, right?

Originally posted by Cobaltic1978
reply to post by adeclerk

 

I appreciate what you are saying, but none?

I am continuously being told that any trails in the sky are purely Contrails, the weather is a lot colder than recent, so I would expect to see a lot more, no? So, please explain, rather than try to shoot me down.

Afterall, without asking the reasons why, people could jump to conclusions, right?

Company the number of people saying on here recently about all the contrails they see, and then go back into July on here and see how many they see then.

Its every fall and winter, each year, people talk about the big increase in "chemtrails", and every summer, people mention seeing a lot less. It happens EVERY YEAR.

reply to post by Cobaltic1978



Yes, here, below, is a picture I took today that I used in another thread. It is a BA A321 overflying South Yorkshire at 15:30 ish.



The trail was created exactly as normal, some way behind the aircraft because of the short time it took for the water vapour in it to freeze into ice crystals (ever seen anyone on TV throw hot water into the air on a particularly cold day only for it to amazing freeze almost instantly?) However the trail then quickly vanished, as they all have today. The reason being that the relative humidity, RH, is quite low so the ice quickly sublimates back into the air. If the RH had been high enough we would have seen persistent trails all day.

reply to post by waynos


Okay, thanks for the explanation, at least someone could see what I was asking and not just try to shoot me down.

It's all about the relative humidity.

reply to post by Cobaltic1978


It is temperature and relative humidity. If neither are right then contrails can't form/persist. The temperature aspect is what causes contrail "seasons".

Originally posted by Cobaltic1978
reply to post by waynos

 

Okay, thanks for the explanation, at least someone could see what I was asking and not just try to shoot me down.

It's all about the relative humidity.

That combined with temperature, yes, you need both.

reply to post by Cobaltic1978


the other day our skys were full of them
but i have come to the conclusion that
some contrails are just that
humidity in the sky
EDIT:should of rerasd every reply

Originally posted by Corruption Exposed
I have seen a lot less lately. The whole "it's contrail season" excuse has been debunked so many times it's funny you guys are still using it.

Yes, we should rename it "it's more frequent contrails season".

The contrail season seems vary in a similar way to the rainy seasons. If you live somewhere that has no almost rain in summer (like Southern California), then you get almost no contrails in summer. If you live somewhere that has rain year-round (like the UK), then you get contrails year round (but still more in the winter, on average).

Contrails generally precede a change in the weather, particularly ahead of a warm front, so a day with no contrails means the next day is probably going to be fine. A day with contrails can mean it's going to rain later.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d053cdb78c11.jpg[/atsimg]

For Brits interested in seeing whether there are contrail conditions somewhere in their Islands there is this site - www.btinternet.com...

It takes a bit of work to understand what all the technical data is about tho!

And of course the soundings are only for the bits of sky that the balloon actualy passes through at the time it does so - atmospherics change, and unless an aircraft occupied the same airspace at the same time all you can really say is that there were or were not contrail conditions nearby in a given timeframe.

reply to post by Uncinus

Contrails generally precede a change in the weather, particularly ahead of a warm front, so a day with no contrails means the next day is probably going to be fine. A day with contrails can mean it's going to rain later.

Thanks, I will look out for that. That's a very interesting fact about Contrails, can be used as a meteorlogical tool.

reply to post by Cobaltic1978


Well there's not more to say, you asked a question and got the same repeated answer (which does indeed make sense), so at this point the thread is just fail.

Don't take offense though, I just have a hate for chemtrail threads..

reply to post by Nobama


Actually I think that at that point the thread is a success - unlike so many other threads - the question asked, the answer given & understood - if only it were always that easy!

It is a bit sad that to be a "success" on ATS a thread seems to ahve to go for ages and involve much internecine and often ill informed argument, and that such threads stay at the top of the page despite usually having little actual information to offer anyone!

whereas this one will disappear - depsite fulfilling the OP's purpose.