Stunning pictures of 'bubble' clouds in the menacing skies above Britain

Not sure where to post this to be honest. If it should be Fragile Earth please move.

I have been researching chemtrails, contrails and all sorts of weather phenomena but never come across these before. They are quite bizarre.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Some over Mexico City



Any ideas how these form as they seem to be a mystery?

Im sure OzWeatherman may have an idea?

[edit on 20-8-2008 by davidifty]

[edit on 20-8-2008 by davidifty]

Oh My Gosh

They look absolutely amazing

are you sure heyre real cause they llok a bit cartoonish

what time did u take these

and where from

Your answer is just a link away, I knew I had seen these somewhere before.

A quote from the website

This cloud form is known as mamma (the Latin word for "breast" or "udder") and is technically described as a "supplementary cloud form". It is created when downdraughts bring cold air from higher levels, causing the air to reach its dew point and condense into cloud droplets. Compensating warm air rises between the individual pouches of falling air.

Mammatus clouds. Usually associated with thunderstorms. Not common. Perhaps menacing but only in appearance.
ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu...(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/oth/mm.rxml

reply to post by -Klaus-


grrrr
Don't you hate when that happens? Well at least it was a different link.

These are clouds associated with strong thunderstorms. I took a weather & climate class last summer and the professor showed a picture of these clouds. He said if you ever see these clouds, run!

Originally posted by DarthChrisious
These are clouds associated with strong thunderstorms. I took a weather & climate class last summer and the professor showed a picture of these clouds. He said if you ever see these clouds, run!

I will keep that in mind for sure.

Weather over here in the UK has been absolutely rubbish....another typical summer.

I actually Just heard a few days ago a meteorologist here speaking about these. It is a common misconception they are foreboding, but in fact they signal a calming after heavy weather. They are poorly understood phenom.

Thanks for sharing your find.

The photo is amazing!

Saw this on the BBc news website , it might add some more info to the Mail's report - same photo though .
edit to add - I think the trainee headline writer wrote the headline !

[edit on 8/21/2008 by mrbenn]

Ok I have seen some wrong stuff posted in this thread so I'm hoping to clear it up. Someone mentioned correctly the name of this cloud formation. They are called mammatus clouds. The are associated with severe storms. There is nothing about them related to calm. They are a product of sinking air. This is a clear sign of heavy turbulence in a storm. What you will likely find in a storm where mammatus are present is hail (often large hail). If you see a storm with mammatus around it stay away if at all possible. The last time I drove into a storm with this kind of cloud formation around it I regretted the decision.

Edit: I was having a conversation with someone else about this and they are under the impression that mammatus are a sign of a dying storm. I will say that I completely disagree with that idea or any study that claims such because I have witnessed this first hand. I observed a storm that had these clouds about 30 minutes before entering it. There is no way this storm was dying. It was I'd say the 2nd worst storm I had ever been in. There was extremely heavy rain, hail and intense winds. Reports indicated the storm produced winds approaching 100mph. This storm took out trees and power lines everywhere. I had been watching the area on radar and this storm wasn't at the end of its life. It was in its prime.

[edit on 8/21/2008 by Indy]