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Credit: Mick Petroff;
Tip Thanks: James Holmes
(Cairns)
Explanation:
What causes these long, strange clouds?
No one is sure.
A rare type of cloud known as a
Morning Glory cloud can stretch 1,000 kilometers long and
occur at altitudes up to two kilometers high.
Although similar
roll clouds have been seen at specific places across
the world, the ones over
Burketown,
Queensland
Australia
occur predictably every spring.
Long, horizontal, circulating tubes of air might form when flowing, moist, cooling
air encounters an
inversion layer, an atmospheric layer where air temperature atypically increases
with height.
These tubes
and surrounding air could cause dangerous turbulence for airplanes when clear.
Morning Glory clouds can reportedly achieve an
airspeed of 60 kilometers per hour over a surface with little discernible wind.
Pictured above, photographer Mick Petroff photographed some
Morning Glory clouds from his airplane near the
Gulf of Carpentaria,
Australia.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: clouds
Publications with words: clouds
See also: