A big curve of clouds

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Weather & shape · News English

A big curve of clouds

A new report shares a satellite view near Iceland.

A1 · Beginner5–8 minutes

Created by , British English teacher.

White clouds form a broad curved storm pattern over the North Atlantic near Iceland.
NOAA-21 VIIRS image, 14 October 2026; published 21 October. Past storm, not today’s weather.Photo: NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison; VIIRS: NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview and JPSS · NASA educational and informational reuse. Resized; card thumbnail cropped.

Read the story, check the words, then answer the questions and speak.

Look at the clouds

What shape can you see?

1NASA shared a picture of a big storm near Iceland on 21 October. White clouds form a large curve over the sea. The curve looks a little like a comma.

2The picture is from NOAA-21, a satellite. It took the picture on 14 October. The storm moved across the North Atlantic. It brought strong winds to Iceland.

3This is a picture of a past storm. It does not show today’s weather. The picture date and the report date are different.

4Look at the white clouds and the dark sea. Can you follow the curve? Use the picture to describe a shape. Use a current weather report for today’s weather.

Original teaching summary. Models and learning examples are illustrative, not news quotations.

Word help · Three useful words

Read the meanings and examples. Choose one word to use in your own sentence.

cloud

a white or grey area of tiny water drops or ice in the sky

There is a white cloud.

curve

a line that bends

The road has a curve.

wind

air that moves

The wind moves the leaves.

Check your reading · Three questions

Choose one answer for every question, then check. You can change an answer and check again.

1. Where was the storm?

2. When was the picture taken?

3. What does the cloud shape look like?

Useful English

There are white clouds. The sea is dark. Use there are with plural things; use is to describe one thing.

Speak for 20 seconds

Describe one colour and one shape in the picture.

Speak: your ideas

Describe one colour and one shape in the picture.

Labelled model answer

Model: The clouds are white. There is a big curve over the sea.

Illustrative learning example, not a news quotation.

Alone: repeat without the model. Tutor: ask a follow-up question.

Mastery check · Three questions

Choose one answer for every question, then check. You can change an answer and check again.

1. Choose the correct sentence.

2. Complete: The sea ___ dark in the picture.

3. Which statement is correct?

Sources and reporting date

NASA report dated 21 October 2026. Original article:published_time 2026-10-21T00:01:00-04:00. NOAA-21 image taken 14 October; this is a retrospective report, not a forecast.

  • Extratropical Cyclone Whips Past Iceland
    NASA report dated 21 October 2026. Original article:published_time 2026-10-21T00:01:00-04:00. NOAA-21 image taken 14 October; this is a retrospective report, not a forecast.
  • Photograph source
    NOAA-21 VIIRS image, 14 October 2026; published 21 October. Past storm, not today’s weather.