A few years ago I went to a weather conference and one of the more fascinating talks was on Hole Punch Clouds. Meteorologists know that these “holes” in the clouds are created by airplanes. The speaker explained that the latest research shows they are created by the propellers of airplanes not engine combustion.
Courtesy: Sean Browning, KNBC Photographer, Burbank, CA
Here is how they form:
The first requirement is the clouds have to be vertically thin. The temperatures beneath the wings of a C-130 (seen below) are 14 degrees warmer than the surrounding environment. This temperature difference and propeller motion creates a dry punch of air falling from the sky evaporating the clouds beneath. This is always the case but if the clouds are too thick or the plane is above 20,000 feet a hole will not occur. This is why Hole Punch Clouds are fairly rare to see. But when you do get to see them, like Saturday, it’s an incredible sight!
If you have pictures to share, I’d love to see them. Tweet or Facebook me @anthonynbcla
To see other hole punch clouds from Saturday, click here: Hole Punch Clouds
These cloud-waves rarely occur because you need almost perfect atmospheric conditions. Much like ocean waves, the air on the tops of these clouds is moving faster than the bottom of the clouds. The clouds near the surface are cooler than above and the wind speeds are light, like fog. Over the low clouds is a warmer and faster-moving layer of air creating the crest, like we see in the ocean.
Rita Casserly sent in this picture.
This is probably the best example from Birmingham, Alabama.
It’s called a roll cloud — low, horizontal, tube shaped, and completely detached from the cloud base near it. They are rare to see but when present they are located on the leading edge of a line of thunderstorms, cold fronts or squall lines.
Roll clouds form when cool air sinking from a storm cloud’s downdraft spreads out. This is called a gust front. This outflow undercuts warm air being drawn into the storm’s updraft. As the cool air lifts the warm moist air water condenses creating this kind of cloud, which rolls with the different winds above and below.
While they look like tornadoes turned sideways, they are not and do not produce tornadoes.
This is a lone a finger cloud. Specifically it’s called an undulatus cloud formed by an atmospheric wave. The cylinder you are seeing is caused by the rising/sinking air around the cloud.
Photo by: Kathi Jacobs, Dacus, Texas
To see other hotshots shown on our morning show click here:
Caption contest! Person who describes this picture the best wins a KPRC Local 2 morning show mug or a KPRC shirt.
To see all of the Squirrel Watch pictures go here:
This is called a 22-degree halo and forms on days with cirrus clouds covering the sky. (The 22-degrees is the radius around the sun.) These halos aren’t that rare but occur more often in the northern United States and in colder climates. Cirrus clouds are made of tiny ice crystals and are 20,000-30,000 feet in the sky. The crystals refract sunlight and bend the tiny crystals into a circle.
Photo by: Clay Spence, Brookshire
Weather folklore states halos foretell of coming rain, but this isn’t true. With some weather systems cirrus clouds move in ahead of a warm or cold front, but this isn’t always the case either. They are almost always mistaken as rainbows circling the sun or moon but aren’t because these halos form on dry days. Cirrus clouds do not produce rain. They are a treat to see.
This a rare double 22-degree halo. Photo by: Emily Gibson
Texas from space. The Expedition 36 crew on the International Space Station took this picture 240 miles above the Earth with a 50mm lens. You can clearly see Houston on the bottom right hand part of the screen. Can you see Galveston, Beaumont, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas? Oklahoma city is tough to see because of thunderstorms.
To see other hotshots shown on our morning show click here:
Congratulations to Michelle Molina, our squirrel watch caption contest winner. Her comment, “Objects ON the side-view mirror may appear closer than they seem!” wins a prize.
Congratulations to Michelle Martin, our squirrel watch caption contest winner. Her comment, “I bow to the oldest pair of Nike shoes still being worn.” wins a prize.
Congratulations to Alex Arguello, our squirrel watch caption contest winner. His comment, “I’m glad the Wilsons bought a big screen. It’s so much easier to watch Anthony and the crew on Local 2 from here,” wins a prize.
Congratulations to Tara Nicole Carpenter, this month’s squirrel watch caption contest winner. Her comment, “Trying out for the newest Cirque du Soleil show… Zoomanity” wins some swag from our Local 2 morning show.
Earlier this year I went to a weather conference and one of the talks was on hole punch clouds. The latest research shows they are not created by engine combustion at all. The first requirement is the clouds have to be vertically thin. Researchers then discovered that the clouds usually form beneath C-130 planes (shown below). Beneath the wings of these planes temperatures were around 14 degrees warmer than the rest of the plane and surrounding environment. This temperature difference created a dry punch of air falling from the sky evaporating the clouds beneath.
On a side note, a big thanks to Stephen Kornblitt who took this picture and sent it to Frank Billingsley. A lot of people said it looked photo shopped but our engineers at the station said it was authentic. Most hole punch clouds are circular. This one is unique because it looks like an outline of a plane or the state of Texas.
Click image to view a slideshow of other damage from Tuesday’s storms.
The National Weather Service has completed their surveys of Tuesday’s damage. The Kingwood tornado has been classified as an EF1 (86-110 mph winds). Here is what it found.
“A National Weather Service storm survey has determined that Tuesday’s storm produced an EF-1 tornado in Kingwood located in far northeastern Harris County. The approximate track length of this tornado was one mile and its maximum path width was estimated to be 150 yards. The time of the tornado was approximately 1:37 pm.
“This system produced widespread damage: numerous trees snapped or uprooted … four garage doors blown in … and window and roof damage to numerous homes. Most of the damage occurred along Hidden Lakes Drive. The starting point of the track looks to be near the intersection of Willow Terrace Drive and Hidden Lakes Drive.
“A second storm survey was done just north of Texas City at the ISP plant where minor damage occurred around 6 pm. It was estimated an EF-0 tornado did minor damage in the plant with the main damage being 10 empty trailers that were flipped over by the weak tornado. The length of the path was 1/2 mile long and 25 yards wide.”
This picture was taken by Cierra Grace in Crosby, not a tornado but straight line wind damage.
You are always welcome to send your storms shots to:
Howard Stout took this picture at his home in Santa Fe.
Here is another view of cloud streets from space.
When the low-level air begins to rise, clouds can form. Some days there is a layer of stable air above, and that limits the vertical extent of the convection. If the wind is fairly uniform the clouds can form “streets”. You’ll get parallel lines of clouds alternating with the clear skies. These gaps are caused by the rising/sinking air produced by the rotating horizontal cylinders in the atmosphere.
When the atmosphere is cold, ice sometimes forms flat six-sided crystals as it falls from high-level clouds. Air resistance then causes these crystals to lie nearly flat much of the time as they flutter to the ground. If viewed toward a rising or setting Sun, these flat crystals will reflect sunlight and create an unusual column of light — a sun pillar as seen above.
You don’t see to many of these in southeast Texas, but a dust devil formed in Katy. You’ll usually see these in the desert southwest where it is hot and dry, but our weather has resembled more of a desert this year than the tropical climate we are used to. Dust devils form on hot, dry days. The surface of the ground is hot and that air is less dense than the “cooler” air around it, so it begins to rise. Because of the uneven surface heating, it rises in bubbles. Cooler air from above rushes to fill the voids left by the bubbles and causes a spin. These are different from tornadoes because tornadoes form from the base of thunderstorm clouds and rotate toward the ground. Dust devils are almost always weak, from a few miles per hour to 70 mph at the most, and rarely cause damage.
Memorial Day was created to honor the men and women who have served in the military. Hopefully, you have your own traditions for this special day, but if not, here’s a list of things to do on Memorial Day:
Write a member of the military. There are thousands of men and women actively serving in the military. Visit http://amillionthanks.org/, to find out how you can write them and brighten their day.
Fly the US Flag. Flying the flag is a great way to say thanks and show your support. Also, if you have a POW/MIA flag, this is also a great day to fly it.
Participate in the National Moment of Remembrance. At 3 p.m. local time on each Memorial Day, pause for one minute to remember those who have given their all for us.
Thank a veteran. Take time out of your day to stop and thank someone who has served our country in the military. So many veterans say that a simple act of gratitude means more to them than most people realize.
Anthony Yanez's Weather Blog 