What causes these long, strange clouds? No one is sure. Morning Glory Clouds Over Australia NASA - August 24, 2009 Pictured above, a roll cloud extends far into the distance as a storm approached in 2007 in Racine, Wisconsin, USA. Unlike a similar shelf cloud, a roll cloud is completely detached from their parent cumulonimbus cloud. A roll cloud is not thought to be able to morph into a tornado. ![]() Roll clouds may actually have air circulating along the long horizontal axis of the cloud. When this happens uniformly along an extended front, a roll cloud may form. In particular, a downdraft from an advancing storm front can cause moist warm air to rise, cool below its dew point, and so form a cloud. These rare long clouds may form near advancing cold fronts. What kind of cloud is this? A type of arcus cloud called a roll cloud. Roll Cloud Over Wisconsin NASA - August 31, 2011 Unlike shelf clouds, rolls clouds are completely detached from the bulk of the storm. Winds from the storm "roll" the cloud parallel to the horizon, creating an effect that looks much like a horizontal tornado. Sinking cold air causes warm, moist air on the planet's surface to climb to higher altitudes, where the moisture condenses into cloud form. Roll clouds sometimes form along with storms, too, born out of the storm's downdraft. Their more common cousin is the shelf cloud, often seen on the leading edges of thunderstorms. The spectacular photo, captured last month, was just released by NASA's Earth Science Picture of the Day blog.Roll clouds are a type of arcus cloud, which is a category of low cloud formations. A photo taken near Brazil captures a rare and beautiful "roll cloud," a tubular cloud that seems to tumble across the sky. van der Wurff from a ship en route from Paranagua, Brazil, to Montevideo, Uruguay, on Feb. Giant Tubular Cloud Rolling Across the Sea Live Science - March 5, 2012 An extreme example of this phenomenon looks almost like a tornado and is known as a gustnado. ![]() A very low shelf cloud accompanied by these signs is the best indicator that a potentially violent wind squall is approaching. In a severe case there will be vortices along the edge, with twisting masses of scud that may reach to the ground or be accompanied by rising dust. A shelf cloud usually appears on the leading edge of a storm, and a wall cloud will usually be at the rear of the storm.Ī sharp, strong gust front will cause the lowest part of the leading edge of a shelf cloud to be ragged and lined with rising fractus clouds. This is likely a mistake, since an approaching shelf cloud appears to form a wall made of cloud. People seeing a shelf cloud may believe they have seen a wall cloud. As the lower cooler air lifts the warm moist air, its water condenses, creating a cloud which often rolls with the different winds above and below (wind shear). This outflow cuts under warm air being drawn into the storm's updraft. Cool, sinking air from a storm cloud's downdraft spreads out across the land surface, with the leading edge called a gust front. Rising cloud motion often can be seen in the leading (outer) part of the shelf cloud, while the underside often appears turbulent and wind-torn. A shelf cloud is attached to the base of the parent cloud, which is usually a thunderstorm, but could form on any type of convective clouds. Ī shelf cloud is a low, horizontal, wedge-shaped arcus cloud. ![]() In a severe case there will be vortices along the edge with twisting masses of scud that may reach to the ground or be accompanied by rising dust. As the cool air lifts the warm moist air, water condenses creating a cloud which often rolls with the different winds above and below (wind shear).Ī sharp, strong gust front will cause the lowest part of the leading edge of an arcus to be ragged and lined with rising fractus clouds. This outflow undercuts warm air being drawn into the storm's updraft. Cool, sinking air from a storm cloud's downdraft spreads out across the surface with the leading edge called a gust front. Roll clouds and shelf clouds are the two types of arcus clouds, slight variations in their generation and appearance being the difference. Arcus, Shelf, Roll, Morning Glory Clouds - CrystalinksĪn arcus cloud is a low, horizontal cloud formation associated with the leading edge of thunderstorm outflow, or occasionally with a cold front even in the absence of thunderstorms.
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