Canary Islands Kick Up Von Kármán Vortices

This is pretty sweet! Looks like a bunch of mini hurricanes all starting at once!



"Theodore von Kármán, a Hungarian-American physicist, was the first to describe the physical processes that create long chains of spiral eddies like the ones shown above. Known as von Kármán vortices, the patterns can form nearly anywhere that fluid flow is disturbed by an object. In this case, the unique flow occurs as winds rush past the tall peaks on the volcanic islands. As winds are diverted around these high areas, the disturbance in the flow propagates downstream in the form of vortices that alternate their direction of rotation."

earthobservatory.nasa.gov...

Nice picture, I am reminded somehow, of a documentary that showed weather systems originating from the African continent and continuing across the Atlantic..blah, blah.. remembering the movie Butterfly Effect, and oh yeah- don't forget planet X. Just sayin'. a reply to: Illumin

This demands a new classification:

Hurricane + Volcano = Hurricano.

Volicane,duh!