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Digital Image Library

Cloud Stamp Celebration with Local Photographers:
NCAR to Become Cloudscapes Postal Station for a Day

Free Public Event Takes Place October 17

Schedule of events

October 12, 2004

BOULDER—The Boulder Postmaster will unveil the U.S. Postal Service’s new Cloudscapes stamp series at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) during a free celebration for young people and adults on Sunday, October 17, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at NCAR’s Mesa Lab. The Postal Service officially debuted the cloud stamps on October 4 at Blue Hills Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts.

The celebration, which occurs during National Stamp Collecting Month, includes presentations by photographers and weather experts, book and stamp signings, and guided tours of the Mesa Lab. Nick Carter, 9News meteorologist, will be master of ceremonies. Stamps will be available for purchase and commemorative cancellation at the NCAR Cloudscapes Station, set up by the Postal Service for the day.

Click on the above image for a larger version.

One of the new stamps features this picture of lenticular clouds, captured by UCAR photographer Carlye Calvin. Click on the above image for a larger version.

Carlye Calvin and Richard Keen, two of the photographers whose photos are featured in the Cloudscapes series, will be present to sign stamps and books. Calvin, who works as a photographer at NCAR, will give a presentation along with Bob Henson, author of “The Rough Guide to Weather,” on capturing clouds on camera. Keen, a climatologist at the University of Colorado-Boulder who contributed cloud descriptions as well as photos, will tell the story behind the Cloudscapes stamp series.

NCAR meteorologist Peggy LeMone will give an illustrated talk based on her booklet “The Stories Clouds Tell,” in which she uses creative examples to explain the science of clouds. She has calculated, for example, that a large storm cloud weighs about as much as 200,000 elephants. A hurricane? Forty million elephants.

For more information the public may call 303-497-1174 or visit UCAR's website. NCAR’s Mesa Lab is located at the west end of Table Mesa Drive.

Cloudscapes are the featured stamps during National Stamp Collecting Month, whose theme is “Reach for the Sky and Collect Stamps!”

Related sites on the World Wide Web

Schedule of events

Visit NCAR's Mesa Lab

More about Clouds on the Web

The National Center for Atmospheric Research and UCAR Office of Programs are operated by UCAR under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation and other agencies. Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any of UCAR's sponsors.

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