Cloud Streets

Watching the skies for some folks may not be the most entertaining thing in the world.  However for others who watch the skies for cloud formations and storms in general, well I have something to show you today.   I took a Meteorology 101 course and during the course we discussed basic formations of clouds and how they relate to current and future weather conditions.  Last Sunday while I was on a short hike with my brother and a friend we ran into a cloud formation that had us looking up for awhile.  I looked up this particular type of cloud and found that this is a rare event called "Horizontal Convective Rolls" aka Cloud Streets.  In short, this is generated by rolling motion caused by counter-rotating air that is parallel with the ground usually generated by instability from a strong arriving cold front.

 
In part I was unprepared.  I write for a blog and I was face to face with a tremendous natural science display and I did not have a camera with me.  Thankfully I was not alone and my co-photographers in a photography group I belong to helped out by taking pics that day.

Here is another pic of the rolling clouds.

 Watching the cold front roll in from the western sky had us mesmerized and that was not the end of that.  When we left the park (in separate cars) we all unknowingly and randomly stopped and took similar pictures of the sky during sunset.   That sky produced a wild display of light, texture and color.  Below you will see what I mean.   So the next time you hear about a cold front, plan to keep a camera with you and if you take a great picture, don't forget to share.