Strange cloud formation

[Deleted member 478]

I've never seen clouds with the pointy bits below them. Any ideas?

 

[Slowboat35]

Dunno what the name is (easy enough to find out) but it's snow/ice crysrals falling from the cloud and sublimating on the way down. I've flown through them hundreds of times and it is snow, not liquid.

 

[veshengro]

Not the dark line on the Horizon then? Do you mean the udder ones?

 

[AngusMcDoon]

It's virga.

 

[johnalison]

I saw some like that when transiting the Kiel Canal and decided to call them jellyfish clouds. It turns out that that is the usual name for them. Precipitation is falling down and making them that shape.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Mammatus clouds? Mammatus clouds

 

[Roberto]

I've never seen clouds with the pointy bits below them. Any ideas?

Check your boat: if destroyed --> dying waterspout, if boat ok then incipient waterspout run away at maximum speed

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Mammatus clouds? Mammatus clouds

No, This is mammatus (1:00 ) the whispy strands are virga.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Mammatus clouds? Mammatus clouds

Does Stingo's pic look like a raft of dangling pendulous jubblies to you?

Mammatus is rare & comes out of big angry likely thunderstorm clouds. Virga is a much more common although short lived feature.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Mammatus is rare & comes out of big angry likely thunderstorm clouds. Virga is much more common although short lived feature.

Check my link

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Dunno what the name is (easy enough to find out) but it's snow/ice crysrals falling from the cloud and sublimating on the way down. I've flown through them hundreds of times and it is snow, not liquid.

Can be liquid too.

 

[WoodyP]

Just occasionally you see low angry clouds that look like Armageddon. We had an experience out sailing once where we had a real fright when the clouds came down to the water and the mother and father of storms enveloped us. By the time we had gathered what was happening and dropped sails it had passed, but I had no idea of our heading as we were turned round a couple of times.