Astronomy Picture of the Day - Mammatus Clouds over Mount Rushmore

APOD.NASA.gov ^ | 7 Dec, 2020 | Image Credit & Copyright: Laure Mattuzzi

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: What's that below those strange clouds? Presidents. If you look closely, you may recognize the heads of four former US Presidents carved into famous Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, USA. More obvious in the featured image are the unusual mammatus clouds that passed briefly overhead. Both were captured together by a surprised tourist with a quick camera in early September. Unlike normal flat-bottomed clouds which form when moist and calm air plateaus rise and cool, bumpy mammatus clouds form as icy and turbulent air pockets sink and heat up. Such turbulent air is frequently accompanied by a thunderstorm. Each mammatus lobe spans about one kilometer. The greater mountain is known to native Lakota Sioux as Six Grandfathers, deities responsible for the directions north, south, east, west, up, and down.

[MtnClimber]

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then zoom by moving the magnifying glass over an area and then clicking. The side bars will move the zoomed area over the photograph.

[MtnClimber]

[PGalt]

CLASSIC! Thank so much for posting.

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list.

🪐 🌟 🌌

The explanation at the link seems to imply that the photo was taken by a cat if you can find how they do that.

[mewzilla]

They look more like teardrops than tatas to me, but I’ll bet a guy came up with the name.

Cool pic, though.

[Repeal The 17th]

The cat is a “surprised tourist”.

[AFB-XYZ]

What an awesome pic. It looks like marshmallows.

Only way it could possibly be better would be to add two faces to the Mount: Presidents Reagan and Trump.

[Huskrrrr]

Saw a lot of those formations, growing up in Iowa.

[AFB-XYZ]

That will be one new keyboard, please. :-)

[Michigan Bowhunter]

It’s a beautiful picture. The sack like structures remind me of gutting out a deer and the way the intestines all look when you spill them out over the ground. Almost a little bit like kidney fat at the same time. Other than that, they are beautiful :-)

[algore]

https://weather.com/news/weather/news/new-cloud-species-world-meteorological-organization-cloud-atlas

Recently some new cloud types were added, absent was chemus-trailover

[mewzilla]

Eeep! Sorry! :-)

Cool factoids here...

Mammatus clouds

[sauropod]

Very cool.

[ETL]

[mylife]

I call it the boiling sky..

[ETL]

Mammatus Clouds

Under a Cumulonimbus Cloud - I

Mammatus clouds do not always occur with cumulonimbus clouds, but when they do they are often very eye-catching. This example was during a summer thunderstorm. The National Weather Service describes them this way: "Clouds with pouch-like downward extensions associated with very active cumulonimbus in latter stages of development. Mammatus occurs when air from the cloud layer descends into the clear air below and the cloud droplets evaporate, cooling down the air and making it descend even faster. Some of the cloud is dragged down, creating the appearance.”.
Photo by Lauren Chambers in Maryland.

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Under a Cumulonimbus Cloud - II

Another possible thing you can see beneath a cumulonimbus cloud is called mammatus. This is an indication of very active updrafts and downdrafts and can be a sign of severe weather. This particular photo was taken after a VERY intense thunder/ rain storm. Presumably there were more extensive and larger mammatus earlier, but it was pitch dark during the storm!

Photo by Laura Hinkelman in Connecticut.

https://scool.larc.nasa.gov/GLOBE/mammatus.html

[ETL]

"Mammatus, meaning "mammary cloud", is a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud, typically cumulonimbus rainclouds, although they may be attached to other classes of parent clouds. The name mammatus is derived from the Latin mamma (meaning "udder" or "breast")."

--wikipedia

[ETL]

" The name mammatus is derived from the Latin mamma (meaning "udder" or "breast").""

[TianaHighrider]

cool clouds bookmark