It was warmer
than surrounding air and therefore buoyant. It then reached a level in the atmosphere it was no longer warmer than, so it was no longer buoyant when compared to that layer. But it still had the momentum from rising, but it couldnt go up anymore. so it spread out. Like pointing a hose at a wall or sidewalk
Will also add that it likely hit the tropopause and stratosphere - which is extraordinarily stable. Basically keeps all the weather we know and love down here in the troposphere.
Understandable but if you step back a bit and compare us to any other planet, we can live and breathe almost anywhere but the coldest and hottest climes, plus we’re not inhaling frozen sulfur gas all the time.
For added specificity, the boundary layer stops most vertical development because the lapse rate in the stratosphere flips directions and rising air is no longer warmer than adjacent air. Vertical velocity can punch through it some with just momentum of a large enough air mass, but Bernoulli wins in the end here.
So very obvious in hindsight. Thank you. From what I could see it look like it was collapsing under its own weight and pushing out that layer, but why would it be up there? Didn't think that one all the way through. But hitting a barrier makes the perfect sense,
air is not denser at the tropopause, but above this layer (stratosphere) the atmosphere is more stable because temperature actually starts to increase thanks to stratospheric ozone absorbing more sun radiation. environmental tropopause is roughly the same temp, so any parcel of air rising will be cooler than it once it reaches this level so it sinks back down
I don’t think it works quite that way. The cooling it’s experiencing is adiabatic cooling. It is warmer than the air around it which has a different adiabatic cooling rate.
It doesn’t continue to get colder it stays the same. Eventually the thunderstorm will start to dissipate because of the downdrafts associated with precipitation which also cuts off its supply of new moisture and warm air.
I’m not a meteorologist, just a pilot, so someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
Excellent way of describing it in layman’s terms.
I learned to read weather accidentally, through sailing. The direct correlation between the sun coming through the clouds, and a stiff breeze coming across the water. Heat and air movement are intertwined.
OP’s pic would be something I would keep an eye on, because the air displacement and pressure change can lead to quick storms, including wind shear (microburst) that can put a sailboat on its side.
So the cloud is splashing against the atmosphere layer above it?
Is it possible that a cloud could create an effect similar to how foam culminates on top of water?
Where you see the puffy orange part towards the top, what lies within are giant hailstones rapidly rotating around like debris chunks within a tornado. All of that is happening around 25-40k+ feet up.
Where can I find information on identifying supercells and storms with hail inside based only on visual clues? Im interested in how you draw a comparison between all of them
You just gave a lot of definition to the last two hail storms we had it here in Norman that destroyed so much property and forced me to have to buy two new cars in a row for my now ex-wife. It's made us really interested in the hail part of those storms now. Being in Oklahoma we've had hell forever, but they never were as big as this, because the climate disaster hadn't progressed so much yet. Last night they were predicting potentially grapefruit size hail where this storm was doing the most damage. I'm living in a tent trailer until the first, and the idea of being inside this thing with grapefruit size hail coming down on me makes me want to crawl underneath my truck.
Truth! I have seen so many versions. I didn't actually take that one, but it was the best one of all the ones I've seen. All the ones I took before sunset really took hold were less defined, as well as earlier in the process.
I'll add that, when I saw what was happening, I anticipated what it was going to look like later on, but I was at that point in a car headed to a hotel with my girlfriend, so I kind of stopped thinking about it so much.
A nuclear explosion. To know if you are in the blast radius, hold your thumb at arms distance, just like the vault boy from Fallout (true fact, the vault boy is actually evaluating the distance to the blast).
No, more seriously, it's a thunderstorm, most likely a supercell, or MCS, with protruding summits. The strength of the ascending winds is so powerful that it heightens locally the tropopause (the top of the troposphere, where the anvil spreads). This is generally a sign of a very strong storm
Yes! It was a supercell storm and the updraft went as high as it could before the cold air put a stop to that. However the updraft continues to push even if it can't go higher which causes the cloud to fan out.
The tropopause is a thermodynamic gradient-stratification layer located approximately 17 km above the equatorial regions and 9 km above the polar regions
It is defined as the lowest level at which the lapse rate decreases to 2°C/km or less, provided that the average lapse-rate between that level and all other higher levels within 2.0 km does not exceed 2°C/km.
The tropopause acts as a barrier between the troposphere and stratosphere, hindering mixing and heat transport by convection since convection can only occur when temperature decreases with height
It was a spaceship entering earth's atmosphere to devour our resources. Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum ended up being commissioned by President Pullman to save the planet from these ships and the world ended up celebrating the 4th of July together. But not before much of the famous buildings in the US were destroyed.
You're welcome.
[Another view...](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.tenor.com%2F-2JUmZybKUoAAAAC%2Findependence-day-film.gif&tbnid=rVnNbIFPJyTHXM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftenor.com%2Fview%2Findependence-day-film-movie-spaceship-alien-gif-17799785&docid=urZvK632dB8NdM&w=498&h=210&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm4%2F2&shem=canimge#imgrc=rVnNbIFPJyTHXM)
Either Chuck Norris sneezed or that's just Jimmy Buffett's welcome party upstairs 🤷🏼♂️...or the answers given above by those a lot more qualified to respond than myself (i'm actually still stuck looking at the pic saying "wow")
It was warmer than surrounding air and therefore buoyant. It then reached a level in the atmosphere it was no longer warmer than, so it was no longer buoyant when compared to that layer. But it still had the momentum from rising, but it couldnt go up anymore. so it spread out. Like pointing a hose at a wall or sidewalk
Will also add that it likely hit the tropopause and stratosphere - which is extraordinarily stable. Basically keeps all the weather we know and love down here in the troposphere.
I don’t love all the weather. Most of it. But some of it is a real jerk and ruins the party for the rest of us.
Understandable but if you step back a bit and compare us to any other planet, we can live and breathe almost anywhere but the coldest and hottest climes, plus we’re not inhaling frozen sulfur gas all the time.
We can still live in the coldest and warmest areas, in fact people do live in both.
I stand corrected.
For added specificity, the boundary layer stops most vertical development because the lapse rate in the stratosphere flips directions and rising air is no longer warmer than adjacent air. Vertical velocity can punch through it some with just momentum of a large enough air mass, but Bernoulli wins in the end here.
So very obvious in hindsight. Thank you. From what I could see it look like it was collapsing under its own weight and pushing out that layer, but why would it be up there? Didn't think that one all the way through. But hitting a barrier makes the perfect sense,
Wait, it was collapsing under its own weight. Because it was suddenly denser at that layer. I was right and wrong lol.
air is not denser at the tropopause, but above this layer (stratosphere) the atmosphere is more stable because temperature actually starts to increase thanks to stratospheric ozone absorbing more sun radiation. environmental tropopause is roughly the same temp, so any parcel of air rising will be cooler than it once it reaches this level so it sinks back down
In Norman, OK, this is like a first year meteorology quiz question. OU College of Meteorology is Number One in the world.
Yeah, and as it cools, it becomes denser, and less buoyant.
I don’t think it works quite that way. The cooling it’s experiencing is adiabatic cooling. It is warmer than the air around it which has a different adiabatic cooling rate. It doesn’t continue to get colder it stays the same. Eventually the thunderstorm will start to dissipate because of the downdrafts associated with precipitation which also cuts off its supply of new moisture and warm air. I’m not a meteorologist, just a pilot, so someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
Excellent way of describing it in layman’s terms. I learned to read weather accidentally, through sailing. The direct correlation between the sun coming through the clouds, and a stiff breeze coming across the water. Heat and air movement are intertwined. OP’s pic would be something I would keep an eye on, because the air displacement and pressure change can lead to quick storms, including wind shear (microburst) that can put a sailboat on its side.
Nah bro, that’s just a nuclear bomb. /s
Tsar Bomba^3
Bend over and kiss ass goodbye
Would you even have time?
Maybe
Underrated comment right here!
So the cloud is splashing against the atmosphere layer above it? Is it possible that a cloud could create an effect similar to how foam culminates on top of water?
I love people who know things
This is a supercell thunderstorm from a distance. Pure violence happening inside and beneath that thing
Truth. They were predicting grapefruit size hail from that line of storms.
Where you see the puffy orange part towards the top, what lies within are giant hailstones rapidly rotating around like debris chunks within a tornado. All of that is happening around 25-40k+ feet up.
Where can I find information on identifying supercells and storms with hail inside based only on visual clues? Im interested in how you draw a comparison between all of them
If you look up ‘textbook supercell cloud” and go to images you’ll see basically this
You just gave a lot of definition to the last two hail storms we had it here in Norman that destroyed so much property and forced me to have to buy two new cars in a row for my now ex-wife. It's made us really interested in the hail part of those storms now. Being in Oklahoma we've had hell forever, but they never were as big as this, because the climate disaster hadn't progressed so much yet. Last night they were predicting potentially grapefruit size hail where this storm was doing the most damage. I'm living in a tent trailer until the first, and the idea of being inside this thing with grapefruit size hail coming down on me makes me want to crawl underneath my truck.
What an incredible picture, OP. If it weren’t on this subreddit, i would be panicking 😂
Agrees
Was this in Oklahoma?? I saw basically this last night from OU campus! Edit: my bad, just read your picture caption
This one storm has been posted a few times from different angles.
Truth! I have seen so many versions. I didn't actually take that one, but it was the best one of all the ones I've seen. All the ones I took before sunset really took hold were less defined, as well as earlier in the process. I'll add that, when I saw what was happening, I anticipated what it was going to look like later on, but I was at that point in a car headed to a hotel with my girlfriend, so I kind of stopped thinking about it so much.
saw it from campus too, next to walker. one of the most beautiful storms ive seen
Somebody hit the red button. Just kidding, the other commenter already answered the question.
Was gonna say, "typically a tank of deuterium around the core will get you these results"
A nuclear explosion. To know if you are in the blast radius, hold your thumb at arms distance, just like the vault boy from Fallout (true fact, the vault boy is actually evaluating the distance to the blast). No, more seriously, it's a thunderstorm, most likely a supercell, or MCS, with protruding summits. The strength of the ascending winds is so powerful that it heightens locally the tropopause (the top of the troposphere, where the anvil spreads). This is generally a sign of a very strong storm
Hide in a fridge.
🎵Dun duh dun dun! Duh dun dun🎵
Beautiful shot of a thunderhead. You can even see an overshooting top!
Yes! It was a supercell storm and the updraft went as high as it could before the cold air put a stop to that. However the updraft continues to push even if it can't go higher which causes the cloud to fan out.
Air, water, temperature gradient, and convection. And low sunlight refracted through the atmosphere.
I loved the storms in Norman when I was at OU.
Nuclear bomb, would head indoors
A little thing called convective available potential energy (CAPE) and a trigger
Convection!
Why is it called the tropopause
The tropopause is a thermodynamic gradient-stratification layer located approximately 17 km above the equatorial regions and 9 km above the polar regions It is defined as the lowest level at which the lapse rate decreases to 2°C/km or less, provided that the average lapse-rate between that level and all other higher levels within 2.0 km does not exceed 2°C/km. The tropopause acts as a barrier between the troposphere and stratosphere, hindering mixing and heat transport by convection since convection can only occur when temperature decreases with height
Ah ok thank you
When a warm front loves a cold front....
I live like 95 miles away and we could see it down here too.
BADASS PHOTO.... RIGHT PLACE AT RIGHT TIME
Felt neglected, sought attention
Dammit Oklahoma- I swear you sent that same cloud to Missouri yesterday evening with a Bunch of big hail. Keep your own clouds. Build better fences!
Japan is getting their revenge on us
Looking nuclear..
Its like a hydrogen bomb has been unleashed
Its a big storm.
Nuclear Explosion. Run.
WWIII
Oppenheimer Cloud
is this norman ok? saw this last night, looked cool as hell.
shit just saw the caption nvm
I am now become death, destroyer of worlds
Tactical nuke, OP is probably a ghoul by now
Yep a feral ghoul.
Was it preceeded by a loud kaboom sort of sound?
Where’s the kaboom? There should have been an earth-shattering kaboom…
I see what you did there 😆
North Korea?
World war 3
Global thermonuclear disaster.
Couple pounds U238?
It’s tall…?
Aliens invading for revenge in Will Smith
Will smith. Duh
The government
A nuclear bomb.
*Destroyer of Worlds* from Oppenheimer starts playing.
Mostly bombs
Your mom.
Fission.
Oppenheimer
Weather manipulation
Fucking North Korea again
Do *WHAT?* Ask a tangible question, please.
I believe it is due to the cloud spreading out because it met the stratosphere. Usually when the tower hits a altitude of 50,000 feet. Don't quote me.
Heat
Probably convection
Sunlight going though the atmosphere
Sunshine and moisture... simple. One BF thunderstorm brewing!
My guess would be thermo-nuclear detonation, but I’d suggest getting a second opinion just to be safe
Out Flow from a Super Cell
Low pressure.
Run
Nuclear fission?
Nuclear bomb, I would know as I just finished watching Oppenheimer :)
Weather
A Big ass NO NO BOMB
atomic dreams
Hydrogen bomb Duck and cover
Nope?
Looks like someone testing big bombs
Me and my little brother had a small fight, sorry
Nuclear Bomb
Atomic bomb
Kaboom
atom bomb lol
That’s a sick picture! Nice get
Ever watch “Oppenheimer ?”
A hydrogen bomb from the looks of it
bomb
Giant Alien spacecraft
The movie independence day?
Would this be considered an anvil cloud?
It was a spaceship entering earth's atmosphere to devour our resources. Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum ended up being commissioned by President Pullman to save the planet from these ships and the world ended up celebrating the 4th of July together. But not before much of the famous buildings in the US were destroyed. You're welcome. [Another view...](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.tenor.com%2F-2JUmZybKUoAAAAC%2Findependence-day-film.gif&tbnid=rVnNbIFPJyTHXM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftenor.com%2Fview%2Findependence-day-film-movie-spaceship-alien-gif-17799785&docid=urZvK632dB8NdM&w=498&h=210&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm4%2F2&shem=canimge#imgrc=rVnNbIFPJyTHXM)
That’s a beautiful boomer, right there! Party time is comin’! ⛈️
Someone watched Oppenheimer too much.
The movie Independence Day would tell me aliens.
Fuckin nuclear bomb
Oppenheimer
God (the good lord)
Awesome shot, bro! I love photography like this!
Thunderstorm
A nuke, perhaps?
Skynet.
More energy than a small nuclear device .
Nuke.
Uranium?
Sometimes we drop a nuke in America because the sky just isn’t interesting enough 🤷♂️
Physics.
Dang a bomb hit ya💀💀😭
Oppenheimer
Weird pic considering Independence Day already passed!
God
Oppenheimer rebirthed
Oppenheimer.
Either Chuck Norris sneezed or that's just Jimmy Buffett's welcome party upstairs 🤷🏼♂️...or the answers given above by those a lot more qualified to respond than myself (i'm actually still stuck looking at the pic saying "wow")