I think overcast skies can be just as beautiful and interesting as deep blue skies filled with big white puffy cumulus clouds.
Fairfax County, Virginia USA
Did you notice the large "hole in the clouds" visible in the third video segment?
A hole in the clouds is known scientifically as a fallstreak hole or cavum... . It looks like a clean, circular or elliptical gap cut right out of a thin layer of clouds. Source Credits: Google AI Overview; links added to the International Cloud Atlas.
The following photo is the last frame of the third video segment.
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| 28 OCT 2026 | 2:52 PM EDT |
I think one or more hole in the clouds can be seen in every video segment; the hole in video segment three (shown above) is a no-doubter.
Wind (mph), Weather and Sky Condition
"Wind (mph)," "Weather" and "Sky Cond." are highlighted by red rectangles in the following excerpt from a table of three-day weather observations for KDCA on 28 October 2026 nearest the times when I recorded the time lapse videos.
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| Source Credit: KDCA | National Weather Service |
The clouds reported under "weather" and "sky condition" were "mostly cloudy" (BKN at 25,000 feet). Remember BKN = Broken = 5/8 to 7/8 of sky coverage. In the temperate region high level clouds occur from 16,500 to 45,000 feet. Therefore most of the clouds shown in my YouTube video are cirroform, including cirrus (Ci), cirrocumulus (Cc) and possibly Cirrocumulus floccus (Cc flo).
Panoramic Images
The following panoramic composite images were taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. The iPad was mounted on a tripod located at the uppermost level of a seven-story parking garage. |
| 28 OCT 2026 | 4:03 PM EDT | Panoramic view. (16041 x 3674 pixels.) |
The next composite image is a "mini-Pano" that shows detail in the clouds near the Sun.
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| 28 OCT 2026 | 3:57 PM EDT. Mini-Pano. (7210 x 3814 pixels.) |
Fall Foliage
Meanwhile, back on the Earth's surface it's the most colorfall time of the year. Both photos were taken looking down from the sixth floor of the parking garage for the building where I live.
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| Facing east-southeast. |
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| Facing southeast. |
Tech Tips
My Fujifilm X-T5 camera was set for manual exposure and manual focus. The focal length of the Meike 6.5mm circular fisheye lens is, well, 6.5mm (~9.75mm to 10mm, 35mm equivalent). Aperture was set for ~f/8. The focus ring was set for ~3 ft, the hyperfocal distance at f/8. Shutter Speed was 1/3,200 s for all three video clips. White Balance was set for "AUTO WHITE PRIORITY." Aspect Ratio was set for M 3:2 (5472 x 3648 pixels). Image Quality was set for FINE+RAW (Fine JPEG plus LOSSLESS COMPRESSED RAF). A two (2) second interval was used between photos.
The camera-lens combo was mounted on a ball head/tripod so that the lens is pointed at the zenith. A clear green plastic spirit level mounted on the X-T5 hot shoe was used to level the camera body in this orientation. Since the wind was light, I fully extended the center column on my tripod (and stood beside the tripod, beneath the camera) so that I wouldn't appear in any of the photos.
Three photo sets of 591, 606, and 596 photos, respectively, were rendered to video using Apple "QuickTime Player" (free). The resulting movie clips were edited using Apple "Photos" (free). The final YouTube video was created using DaVinci Resolve (free).
Related Resources
- Cavum | International Cloud Atlas - World Meteorological Organization
- F / Fallstreak hole Glossary | International Cloud Atlas - World Meteorological Organization
- Posts on Walter Sanford's Blog with the label "Meike 6.5mm."
Copyright © 2026 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
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