This was the view from my office on the day of the winter solstice. At the time, the weather was very nice, but the forecast is for winter storms, which will plague us on our drive to Minnesota starting two days later.
Cirrus clouds are very prominent in this scene. I have always heard that they foretell a coming storm, but I never imagined that it was as predictable as it was laid out in my grade school science book. There were several jet planes visible just before the photo was taken; not all were leaving contrails. I remember there were at least four visible at once, before I grabbed my iPhone, but the picture only has the contrails.
What really made this stand out for me was the crossed contrails casting a shadow on the cirrus clouds. Since my mind was on the weather, wondering what it would mean for our travel, it was at once foreboding and beautiful.
