Cloud Appreciation Society

Cloud Appreciation Society
Formation2005; 19 years ago (2005)
FounderGavin Pretor-Pinney
TypeFan club
HeadquartersUnited Kingdom
Location
  • Global
Membership
60 thousand
Official language
English
PublicationThe Cloudspotter's Guide
Websitewww.cloudappreciationsociety.org

The Cloud Appreciation Society is a society founded by Gavin Pretor-Pinney from the United Kingdom in January 2005. The society aims to foster understanding and appreciation of clouds, and has over 60,000 members from 120 countries, as of September 2023.

Yahoo! named the society's website as "the most weird and wonderful find on the internet for 2005".[1] The group and its founder were the focus of a BBC documentary Cloudspotting, based on Pretor-Pinney's book The Cloudspotter's Guide.[2] During an episode of Taskmaster, comedian Hugh Dennis revealed he is a member of the society.[3]

In 2017, the Cloud Appreciation Society was credited with adding the Asperitas classification of cloud to the World Meteorological Organization's International Cloud Atlas.[4]

  1. ^ Simons, Paul; Alan Hamilton (27 January 2006). "No blue-sky thinking here". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  2. ^ "Cloudspotting". BBC Four. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  3. ^ "Hollowing Out a Baguette". Taskmaster. Season 4. Episode 3. 9 May 2017. Dave.
  4. ^ Rossman, Sean. "We officially have new cloud types for the first time in decades". USA TODAY. Retrieved 7 January 2021.