Click2Pins<\/a> from Toby in Lake Livingston, you can see this difference clearly. The lower airplane isn\u2019t producing a contrail because it\u2019s flying through dry air. Higher up, there are more contrails visible where the atmosphere contains more moisture.<\/p>\nPhoto by Toby, sent using click2pins (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
Occasionally, a jet, especially while climbing or descending, will pass through layers of the atmosphere with different moisture levels. When that happens, the contrail can appear broken or segmented, rather than as one continuous streak. These gaps are simply a sign that the plane is moving in and out of drier and more humid air.<\/p>\n
The history of contrails<\/b><\/p>\n
Contrails were first observed during the earliest high-altitude flights in the 1920s. At the time, they drew little attention. That changed during World War II, when long-lasting contrails behind military bombers made aircraft visible from miles away and became a serious operational concern.<\/p>\n
In 1953, scientist H. Appleman published a chart that could accurately predict when atmospheric conditions would allow contrails to form. That research is still relevant today. Modern military aircraft, including stealth bombers, use similar atmospheric guidance when planning missions because an aircraft isn\u2019t truly stealthy if it\u2019s leaving a visible trail across the sky.<\/p>\n
This chart was used to show when a condensation trail or contrail cloud would formThree kinds of contrails:<\/b><\/p>\n
Depending on the atmospheric conditions, contrails will look different. These lines fall into three main categories: short-lived contrails, persistent contrails, and spreading contrails.<\/p>\n
Short-lived contrails disappear within seconds. When the surrounding air is relatively dry, the tiny ice particles that form behind the aircraft evaporate almost immediately.<\/p>\n
Persistent contrails, on the other hand, remain visible long after the plane has passed. These form in very humid air, and when wind shear is low, they can linger in the sky for hours.<\/p>\n
Spreading contrails develop when moisture levels are high and the atmosphere is unstable or turbulent. As the name suggests, these contrails spread out over time, eventually taking on the appearance of thin, wispy cirrus clouds.<\/p>\n
The photos below were taken around Houston and show each type. The persistent contrail is from a photo I took myself. The short-lived contrail was captured by Hoora Zaid, and the spreading contrail was submitted by Phredip through Click2Pins.<\/p>\n
Persistent picture was taken by me
\nShort -lived by Hoora Zaid
\nSpreading photo by Phredip sent using click2pinsAddressing the elephant in the sky:<\/b><\/p>\n
I know many of you have heard claims that the government, or some other agency, is spraying chemicals from aircraft. These claims refer to so-called \u201cchemtrails\u201d or chemical trails.<\/p>\n
When you hear an extraordinary claim like this, it requires extraordinary evidence. Despite the emails I occasionally receive suggesting I\u2019m covering something up, I\u2019ve never been shown credible, verifiable evidence that supports the idea of chemical spraying. What we do have is well-documented atmospheric science that clearly explains how contrails form and why they sometimes look unusual.<\/p>\n
Questioning what we see is healthy. But the explanations should be grounded in evidence, physics, and decades of research, not speculation.<\/p>\n
This is an image from a NASA satellite<\/p>\n
If you believe we\u2019re being poisoned from the skies, it\u2019s worth pausing to ask a few basic questions. Why would this happen in broad daylight, where everyone can see it? Why not at night, or on overcast days, when visibility is poor? Forecasting cloud cover is relatively straightforward, so hiding such activity would be easy if it were actually happening.<\/p>\n
It also raises practical questions. Do you know a pilot? Would someone you know really agree to harm themselves, their families, and their fellow Americans? And since contrails are observed all over the world, this would require a coordinated global effort involving countless pilots, airlines, and governments without a single credible leak or piece of evidence.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also the bigger picture. Does any government agency truly need help from aircraft to harm public health? Most of us could improve our health far more by making better everyday choices, starting with diet.<\/p>\n
From a technical standpoint, jet fuel does not contain metal-based compounds. Introducing dissolved metals would interfere with engine performance and stability, creating serious safety risks.<\/p>\n
You may also be thinking of what you\u2019ve seen at air shows, where smaller planes release a white trail. That effect comes from a separate attachment added to the aircraft, not from the engine itself. Some specialized aircraft also leave trails during cloud-seeding operations. Cloud seeding is a separate topic and one I\u2019ll dive into another day.<\/p>\n
Anthony’s Weather Lab<\/p>\n
More Stories Like This In Our Email Newsletter<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the past few months, I\u2019ve received quite a few photos from viewers and taken a few myself…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":513516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[26125,229445,1599,4345,5471,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-513515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-clouds","9":"tag-contrail","10":"tag-forecast","11":"tag-houston","12":"tag-houston-weather","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115888871479876076","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}