Striped clouds appear to converge over a mountaintop in this photo, but that’s an illusion. In reality, these clouds are parallel and periodic; it’s only the camera’s wide-angle lens that Keep reading
Tag: cloud formation
Lenticular Landscape
Mountain ridgelines push oncoming winds up and over their peaks, creating the conditions for some spectacular condensation. If the displaced air is moist enough, it cools and condenses into a Keep reading
When Fires Make Rain
The intense heat from wildfires fuels updrafts, lifting smoke and vapor into the atmosphere. As the plume rises, water vapor cools and condenses around particles (including ash particles) to form Keep reading
Hole Punch Clouds
At times altocumulus cloud cover is pierced by circular or elongated holes, filled only with the wispiest of virga. These odd holes are known by many names: cavum, fallstreak holes, Keep reading
“Nimbus”
Ephemeral clouds drift through unusual places in artist Berndnaut Smilde‘s works. He creates his clouds from smoke and water, launching them for a matter of seconds before they dissipate. During Keep reading
Seeding Clouds
In the remote South Atlantic, north of the Antarctic Circle, sit the volcanic Zavodovski and Visokoi islands. Though only roughly 500 and 1000 meters tall, respectively, each island disrupts the Keep reading
Rolling Over Wisconsin
Although they may look sinister, roll clouds like this one are no tornado. These unusual clouds form near advancing cold fronts when downdrafts cause warm, moist air to rise, cool Keep reading
Clouds Down Under
This large and unusual cloud formation was captured one July morning over western Australia. Stretching over 1,000 kilometers, the clouds have interesting features at both the large and small scale. Keep reading
Wave Clouds From Space
An astronaut snapped this image of wave clouds formed around the Crozet Islands, which lie between South Africa and Antarctica. Clouds like these form when warm, moist air gets pushed Keep reading
“Níłtsą́”
Living in the central and western United States, it’s easy to dismiss summer weather as just another storm, but the truth is that this region sees some of the most Keep reading