Much of our area saw a spectacular sight right as sunset with unusual lobe shape clouds hanging in the sky.
But what were they?
They're called "Mammatus Clouds" and they often occur underneath the anvils of strong thunderstorms.
The word Mammatus comes from the Latin root-word of "mamma" meaning "breast" or "udder". A common word you may have heard is mammogram.
The leading theory behind the development of mammatus cloud formation is that the colder dense air at the top of the anvil begins to sink into the warmer air.
The lobes or pouches are sinking air that often contains ice crystals. As the ice crystals melt... air becomes colder. Colder air is more dense and sinks into the surrounding warm air. The mammatus clouds have essentially undershot their equilibrium level.
There are several cloud and microphysic processes that are poorly understood and are still a subject of much intrigue and research; mammatus clouds fit into that category. Perhaps that's why most of us (including myself) stood in awe of tonight's atmospheric show.
We see plenty of unique clouds around here and we do often see mammatus clouds; however, tonight was one of the most spectacular displays in the sky I've ever seen. Hope you had a chance to enjoy the sight as well.
-Garrett
See a gallery of your viewer photos of the mammatus clouds and the rainbow that followed below:
