Tag: mammatus

“Fractal”
Timelapses are a wonderful way to capture the power and majesty of storms like the supercell thunderstorms featured in Chad Cowan’s “Fractal”. The video contains snapshots from six years’ worth of storms over the US’s Great Plains. The highlights include some spectacular mammatus clouds (0:30) and excellent billowing cloud formation (1:27) with turbulence every bit as towering as that of a volcanic plume. June is one of the best months for amazing storms in the Great Plains, largely thanks to the atmospheric mixing that occurs over the Rocky Mountains. If you have the opportunity to witness these amazing natural displays, enjoy it, but be safe! (Video credit: C. Cowan; image via Colossal)
July 4, 2017
Weather Posters
Weather Underground has created a whole series of posters celebrating and briefly explaining various weather phenomena. Many of their subjects are beautiful and unusual types of clouds like the lenticular clouds that form over mountains and hole-punch clouds created when supercooled water vapor gets disturbed. They have a few non-cloud phenomena we’ve discussed previously, too, such as dust devils and bizarre, wind-formed snow rollers. I highly encourage you to check out the full collection, which they’ve made available as phone and computer wallpapers as well as posters. Personally, these combine two of my favorite things: fluid dynamics and retro-style nature posters! (Image credit: Weather Underground)
January 12, 2017
“Vorticity”
Photographer Mike Olbinski is back with another storm-chasing timelapse entitled “Vorticity”. Like his previous work, this film is a breath-taking example of physics in action. It is well worth taking a few minutes to watch in fullscreen, at high resolution, and with headphones. Olbinski’s timelapses beautifully capture the incredible dynamic motion of our atmosphere. Fittingly, “Vorticity” is all about the swirling, roiling motion of supercell thunderstorms and the tornadoes they can spawn, but the film also captures many other great phenomena from the convection that builds clouds to unusual formations like undulatus asperatus and mammatus clouds. (Video credit: M. Olbinski; submitted by Paul vdB)
July 18, 2016
Mammatus Clouds
Mammatus clouds, the bubble-shaped protrusions sometimes seen underneath cumulus clouds, are a rare and dramatic type of cloud. The mammatus is typically short-lived, with lobes lasting only 10 minutes or so. Their rarity and short appearances are among the reasons why this cloud type has been little studied. As a result, there are many theories as to how the clouds form their distinctive, bulbous lobes, but, to my knowledge, there is no single widely accepted explanation. Mammatus often appear before or after severe thunderstorms and are associated with strong turbulence, so this may play a factor in their formation. (Photo credit: C. Lindsey; via APOD)
October 19, 2015
“The Chase”
Sometimes it takes timelapse photography to truly appreciate the dynamic behavior of our atmosphere. In “The Chase” Mike Olbinski, whose work we’ve featured previously, has captured some of the most incredible and stunning weather timelapse footage I have ever seen. Despite watching it repeatedly, I continue to be awed to the point that I have no words. Seriously, just watch it. Be amazed by the drama of our sky. (Video credit: M. Olbinski)
August 28, 2015