Mammatus Clouds

Posted by Johnny Cat in Pictures, Science & Tech on September 14, 2009 at 7:42 pm


Photo: Mark Gallagher

Photo: Mark Gallagher

Resembling something out of Independence Day, or the arrival of Cthulu, Mammatus Clouds are a meteorological phenomenon caused by sagging cellular accumulations produced in clouds of ice and water, and usually mean a fierce storm is trying to develop.

Tending to form in warmer months over the Midwest and eastern areas of the US, mammatus are nonetheless found elsewhere, as our chase across the States to track this singular meteorological phenomenon will reveal.

The above photograph was taken in Colorado, but Environmental Graffiti has a bunch of cool examples.  The one from Tornado Alley state Oklahoma is particularly ominous.

Photo: Wikipedia by NOAA

Photo: Wikipedia by NOAA

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COMMENT

6 comments to "Mammatus Clouds"

  1. Alex
    September 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm

    Hm - is EG down? Is that why you use IPs in lieu of the domain name, Johnny Cat?

  2. Johnny Cat
    September 14th, 2009 at 9:47 pm

    Fixed, but they sure are slow to load today.

  3. Adi
    September 15th, 2009 at 10:38 am

    I saw these once. They were lit by a pink sunset. It was unearthly.

  4. Michigan Fur Coats
    September 15th, 2009 at 12:33 pm

    These look cool and ominous at the same time.

  5. MadMolecule
    September 15th, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    I've seen mammatus clouds a few times. The first time was in the desert near Tucson; not long after they appeared the sky opened up and some of the heaviest rain I've ever seen came down. It was eerie.

  6. FishBottleT
    September 15th, 2009 at 6:44 pm

    These are definatly some serious clouds.


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