4-16-06 storm pictures

[wxnut]

Since you're our weather nut here , tell us about #2. What's the story? It looks like the beginning of a funnel.

It is called a "wall cloud". There are 2 major parts of a thunderstorm. The warm humid air going up (updraft) and the condensed moisture (rain) and cool air coming down (downdraft). The dewpoint and temperature in a certain area determine how high the bottem of the cloud (The updraft) will be off the ground. You can see where that level is in this picture in the upper right area of the picture. Now... where the updraft and downdraft come together, some of the cooler air from the downdraft gets sucked back in to the updraft. This air coming down in the downdraft is MUCH cooler than the air that is already at ground level. Because it is cooler, it condenses (turns to cloud) as it rises back into the updreaft sooner than the air that was already at the ground, causing what looks like a lowering of the updraft base. In this case the downdraft is coming from the right side of the picture. The wall cloud will almost always point to the downdraft in what looks like a sideways funnel. Its pretty much a tracer to see the air coming out of the downdraft (at right) and rising into the updraft to the left.

Hope that made sense. Its about the simplest I can explain it.

Doug

 

[LaFoto]

Your weather photos never cease to amaze me --- and scary as I might find storms and most of all thunderstorms, your photos always relay their fascination which they undoubtedly have, too.
Your explanation wants to be read twice but I still find it understandable - and simple enough for me - which is good!