Posted at 12:45 PM ET, 01/23/2009

Inauguration Contrails

By Ann Posegate

Wx and the City

* Mild, Only for a Day: Full Forecast | Inauguration: How Cold Was It? *

Contrails in the D.C. sky on Inauguration Day. By CWG's Ann Posegate.

I was probably the only one in a crowd of over a million people looking up during parts of the Inauguration ceremony on Tuesday. But, I couldn't help it. There were so many contrails -- long, thin, cold clouds left by helicopters, jets and planes flying overhead -- that added to the effect of the day.

Many of the news helicopters and planes flew circles in the sky, trying to cover the event from various angles and leaving looping, circling and swirling contrails behind. Here are a few photos I took haphazardly (I saved most of my shots for the event itself).

Keep reading for more Inauguration contrail photos. Do you have photos of the sky to share from the past week? Perhaps a silhouette of the Capitol against the rising sun? If so, you can post them to our weather photo gallery here.

By Ann Posegate | January 23, 2009; 12:45 PM ET
Categories: Inauguration, Inauguration Features, Photography, Posegate, Wx and the City
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Comments

Well, if contrail ken were to ever come back from his self-imposed commenting exile, this would be the perfect post for it.

Posted by: iammrben1 | January 23, 2009 2:19 PM | Report abuse

err... chemtrail ken, that is

Posted by: iammrben1 | January 23, 2009 2:20 PM | Report abuse

Ann - nice pics. The circular contrails were almost certainly left by fighter jets that were patrolling D.C.'s airspace on inauguration day. Such contrails were also seen in the months after Sept. 11 when fighter patrols continued over D.C. and New York for a time.

Posted by: Andrew-CapitalWeatherGang | January 23, 2009 3:22 PM | Report abuse

From Arlington Cemetery they looked pretty cool, many circles/ovals right over the mall.

Posted by: kscot3 | January 23, 2009 4:27 PM | Report abuse

Thanks, Andrew. That makes sense. I was surprised to see so many aircraft in the sky that day, as well as commercial airplanes flying near the We Are One concert on Sunday.

Posted by: Ann-CapitalWeatherGang | January 23, 2009 5:01 PM | Report abuse

I knew it. The alien Illuminati from Rigel IV are going after Obama already, seeding the clouds with their genetically modified discontent, just to muck with our Hope...

Posted by: B2O2 | January 23, 2009 6:29 PM | Report abuse

No wonder the day turned clear, even though the forecast called for mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries. Obviously, the government used secret techniques to ensure the sun would shine on Obama's inauguration. Abusing power already! :)

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Inauguration Contrails

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