My friend Jan Null from the Bay Area was lead forecaster for the NWS in Northern California for many years. He emailed me today with this interesting photo. – Anthony
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Looking west from the South Bay this afternoon it looked like something had punched a gigantic circular hole through the layer of clouds above the Coast Range. What was being seen was what has indeed been labeled as a “hole punch cloud”.
This relatively rare occurenvce is the result of an aircraft flying through a layer of high clouds that have precisely the right temperatre and moisture. As the jet aircraft flies through the layer it contributes just enough additonal moisture and exhaust particles for the ice crystals in the cloud to grow large enough to fall out as “fall streaks”. This happens in a circular pattern around the path of the jet with a hole in the cloud layer being the result.
Jan Null
Circular cloud patterns can also look tubular…here is another amazing photo.
Morning Glory Cloud
More details here at Astronomy Picture Of the Day
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This is the close cousin of the morning glory, the pure unadulterated wave cloud.
http://www.pbase.com/cindyd/image/75991891
In this case, there are two mountain peaks producing two UFOs – sorry, I keep slipping back into National Enquirer mode – producing two wave stacks. If you are lucky, you can climb a glider at 2,000 f/min in front of one of these. Just don’t get on the wrong side of it, because you are then going down at 2,000 ft/min.
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I knew it!
I think I saw a hole punch cloud like that over a local chili-fest once.
Those tubes are totally bodacious dude!
And that gravity wave is far out!
heh
I wish I had a video of the most stunning gravity wave I ever saw, but all I can offer is a description.
It was an August morning in the early 1990s, and there was a thin, low overcast like the one in the video above. I was near the town of LaGrange, Wyoming on this morning. In Wyoming in late August we often have a few days of cold air near the ground surface, with warm air above, and an interface between the two of thin overcast. The sky on such a day is full of ripples in the overcast that look like chop on a windswept sea.
Out southwest there appeared a very dark patch in the sky that approached at high speed, certainly more than 60 km/hr, even though there was no surface level winds to speak of. As the dark patch passed overhead we got a splash of rain and thunder. The dark patch raced off quickly to the northeast.
I could only surmise that a gravity wave propagated along the interface, and a layer above the overcast, or perhaps a narrow band above it, was just at the point of instability, so that the passing wave would trigger a very brief squall. I have never witnessed anything like it before or since. However, it has caused me to ponder that thunderstorms might be likened in ways to waves passing through unstable air, and can therefore move in ways one would not expect from the prevailing winds.
Compared to those Morning Glory clouds, contrails look pathetically anemic.
This resembles the hole punched through the clouds by the volcano:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/06/23/iss-has-best-balcony-seat-for-volcanic-eruption/
Is it the same process?
Airplane hole my patootie! Everyone knows that anything like that cloud hole can only be caused by man-made global warming.
One regret I have in my life, is not pursuing the art of glider piloting. Thanks to all, for your vivid descriptions. Unfortunately, they are as salt in the wounds of regret. Sailing provides much comfort as it too can provide 3 dimensional flying… but to sail among the clouds… quietly… sniff… snort… makes you feel the wonder.
Highlander (05:16:05) :
These aren’t new cloud formations. If you’re talking about that-which-must-not-be-named, those reports never seem to come from people who literally keep their heads in the clouds.
Be glad I don’t run this blog, I’d probably reflexively ban anyone who uses all caps. Good science doesn’t need all-caps.
That looks like the Morning glory cloud in the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland Australia.
Hey, I saw that exact same formation my self; and it reminded me of the picture you published of that from above shot of the volcano in alaska with the nifty cloud forming over the ash cloud, as well as the empty hole blown in the cloud cover by the volcano heat.
Once when driving back from SoCal on highway -5 over the grapevine, there had been a recent shower, although the sun was out, and scattered clouds in the sky. Although the rain had stopped, the road was still wet, and I was anoyed that the cars flying past me in adjacent lanes were “kicking up” clouds of water which my wipers had trouble keeping up with; making driving unpleasant. I couldn’t inderstand why there was so much water left on the road for car tires to spray all over the place.
Well there wasn’t; I soon figured out what was happening by watching the cars as they went by.
Each car was in fact creating its own cloud as it passed through the air. The air was so humid from the recent shower, and sunshine, that as the car puehd through the air, the local air pressure dropped due to Bernoulli’s principle, as it diverted around the cars; and that was enough to supersaturate the air, and form a small cloud around each car, whcih was then blown over following vehicles; all that water was not being kicked up fby the tires, but started right at the very front of the cars.
The problem hasn’t bothered me since, even though I still see it happen; now that I know what causes it, it isn’t a driving problem any more.
George
Fantastic morning glory clouds! I hadn’t ever heard of such a thing before seeing this pic a couple of days ago while doing some of my volcano searching.
It looks to me like the very end of the clouds in the picture trail right down into the water.
I love nature! It’s amazing and humbling all at once. Thanks again for teaching me something new every day.
“ralph ellis (07:20:02) :
This is the close cousin of the morning glory, the pure unadulterated wave cloud.
http://www.pbase.com/cindyd/image/75991891
In this case, there are two mountain peaks producing two UFOs – sorry, I keep slipping back into National Enquirer mode – producing two wave stacks. If you are lucky, you can climb a glider at 2,000 f/min in front of one of these. Just don’t get on the wrong side of it, because you are then going down at 2,000 ft/min.”
Looks, to me, like the Michelin Man with his head stuck above the clouds and his feet dangling below
that second photo is unreal, wow!
Rom
I’m sure all the glider pilots here understand exactly what you’re saying. I am very jealous. It’s not of the same magnitude, but I managed to get up to Aboyne in Scotland some years back and in the course of a week got to grips with flying in wave. The wave increased as the week went on and on the last day I managed to get into really big wave. This one wasn’t strong and you had to get to around 4000ft to get into it, but I got up to around 14,000ft. There was another glider above me at around 24,000ft. I could have gone higher but I was told to come down as the lower cloud was closing in around the tops of the mountains.
The trip back down is another story but I was on a high for days. The most amazing thing is getting above cloud.
“that second photo is unreal, wow!”
Can’t fool me. All the photos are Photoshopped.
Spectacular Mt. Fuji cloud: click
Here is a youtube of roll clouds over Munich.
John Galt (06:20:28) :
There was no commercial airline traffic for several days after 9/11 and of course, no contrails either. Was there any noticable change in the weather?
As I understand it the day time temps were hotter and the night time temps were colder. All sorts of conclusions can be arrived at from this. However, as I see it, when the sun is shining cloud means cooler, and no matter what the cloud, whether high or low altitude I have never experienced it get hotter when the sun goes behind cloud.
I know where this can lead to when talking about contrails but I think this photo is interesting as the contrail is being generated not just by the engines.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Skynet-Asia-Airways/Boeing-737-4M0/1551174/L/
There are plenty more like this.
Like these:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Virgin-Atlantic-Airways/Airbus-A340-642/1088680/L/
http://www.airliners.net/photo/United-Airlines/Boeing-747-422/0981369/L/
I’ve seen that as a linear formation.
One chilly November morning three years ago I went out to feed the critters and looked up. There was a thin, “bumpy” overcast (I don’t know the correct cloud names), and a jet departing DFW had climbed into it. It left an inverse contrail — a section where the clouds had been cleared by the airplane’s passage.
I took a picture, but unfortunately the computer it’s on no longer has access to the Internet. Jay Manifold posted it on his blog, but Jay hasn’t updated in a long time and doesn’t allow access to his archives.
Regards,
Ric
I had the pleasure of riding with an old friend in his Blanik L-13 back in the 70’s
took a wave trip over the Blue Mtns. of NE Oregon. Got to 18,000 before it got
dark,That was the only time I enjoyed a Wave most of the time I was in one was trying to cross the Cascades,Siskyous,Sierra,or Blues with a powered plane, usually hauling people, freight, or retardant-and not having fun while doing it…
Another name for streaks of precipitation that evaporate before reaching the ground is virga.
@ur momisugly ralph ellis (07:20:02) :
Those are really spectacular lenticularis. Thanks for the photo.
This reminds me of an experience many years ago:
I was dropping off skydivers at the front edge of a developing lentil at about 12000 feet.
We were talking about it on the way up. Instead of doing their free-fall stuff they immediately pulled the ‘chutes. It took them forever to finally come down. For a while they could hold altitude just cruising around at that front edge.