THEWEATHERMOGIL:: S marks the spot with this towering cumulus cloud
Early on Jun.14, 2016, I headed out to read my rain gauge (located on the 16th fairway of my community golf course). Looking up and to the west, I was treated to a spectacular cloud display (Fig. 1). One small cumulus cloud had managed to grow vertically thanks to a small, but relatively “strong” updraft. No other nearby clouds displayed such vertical development (Fig. 2). Fig. 3 shows the radar image at about the same time as the image in Fig. 1.
My wife immediately likened the shape of this towering cumulus cloud to a backwards question mark. Meteorologist Adam Caskey (KSAT-TV, San Antonio, TX) noted that the image actually “painted a picture of the updraft.”
And paint a picture it did. An examination of radiosonde (weather balloon) winds for nearby Miami, FL showed winds at different atmospheric layers (up to about 18,000 feet) were light and variable (Fig. 4). This likely allowed the updraft to assume its rather unusually contorted shape. Note that radiosondes at Key West, FL and Tampa, FL (not shown) both showed light low-level winds, but not the same variability as did the Miami radiosonde.
Later that afternoon, while driving across Alligator Alley (I-75) from Naples to Fort Lauderdale, I witnessed larger, more developed, thunderstorms, some of which had shapes similar to the morning “question mark” cloud (Fig. 5). The late afternoon Miami, FL radiosonde also showed a similar light and variable wind pattern at lower levels.
© 2016 H. Michael Mogil
Originally posted 6/17/16
Tags:
3.14,
99L,
AC,
AccuWeather,
ACE,
ACT,
advisory,
Africa,
agriculture,
Air Force,
air mass,
air quality,
aircraft,
airline,
airport,
Alabama,
Alaska,
algal bloom,
altitude,
altocumulus,
answer,
Antarctica,
anti-crepuscular rays,
app,
Apple,
application,
arctic,
Arizona,
Arkansas,
ASD,
ashcloud,
Atlanta,
Atlantic,
Atlantic Ocean,
autism,
autumn,
average,
aviation,
awareness,
Bachmann,
Bahamas,
balloon,
Barra,
beach,
beacherosion,
Bermuda,
BF,
Big Bend,
bing,
biology,
biomes,
birds,
Black Friday,
blizzard,
blocking,
bomb,
Bonita Springs,
Boston,
Bow,
bow echo,
brain,
Broward,
Buffalo,
Business,
California,
calorie,
Canada,
Candy Crush,
canyon,
Cape Cod,
Cape Verde,
CapitalOne,
car,
Caribbean,
Carolinas,
Carson,
cash back,
CAT 1,
CAT 5,
CategoryFive,
CategoryOne,
Central Plains,
Central U.S.,
Charlotte,
check,
checking,
Chicago,
chill,
chilly,
Christmas,
Christmas Star,
circles,
cirrus,
climate,
climate change,
climate zones,
climatology,
cloud,
clouds,
Coast,
coastal flooding,
COCORAHS,
cold,
cold front,
college testing,
Collier,
Collier County,
color-blindness,
Colorado,
Common Core,
communication,
computer,
conjunction,
contractor,
convection,
converge,
convergence,
cool,
cooling degree days,
Coronavirus,
coverage,
covid-19,
covid19,
credit,
creditcards,
crepuscular,
crepuscular rays,
crime,
Cristobal,
critic,
CS/HB 7069,
cumulonimbus,
cumulus,
current,
Customer,
customer service,
cyclone,
Dakotas,
Darby,
data,
date,
debate,
deep south,
degree days,
Denver,
deposition,
Des Moines,
desert,
dew,
Dew point,
dewpoint,
diameter,
donut,
Doppler radar,
Dorian,
Dothan,
downburst,
downdraft,
downslope,
drought,
Dry,
dry line,
Drying,
Dunkin’ Donuts,
dust,
e-mail,
Earth,
east,
east coast,
Eastern Pacific,
Eastern Pacific Ocean,
eastern US,
eddy,
Education,
Emily,
England,
enhanced imagery,
entrepreneur,
equation,
erosion,
Eta,
Europe,
evacuation,
evaporate,
evaporative,
eye,
eye wall,
fall streaks,
family,
fat,
Federal,
filters,
fire,
fire weather,
fires,
first responders,
fish,
FL,
flash flood,
flash flooding,
flood,
flooding,
Florida,
FLWX,
focal point,
fog,
folder,
folklore,
forest fires,
Fort Myers,
freeze,
freezing rain,
frequent flyer,
front,
Frost,
Ft. Myers,
funnel,
funnel cloud,
gale,
gale warnings,
gales,
game,
garden,
garden hose,
Gaston,
gauge,
George Clooney,
Georgia,
geostationary,
GLM,
global warming,
GM,
gmail,
GOES,
GOES-16,
GOES-R,
GOESR,
google,
Gore,
government,
gradient,
Great Lakes,
Great Salt Lake,
Greenhouse gas,
ground fog,
Groundhog,
grushfire,
Guadalupe Mountains,
Guadalupe Peak,
Gulf Coast,
Gulf of Mexico,
gust,
gusts,
hail,
hair,
Haiti,
Harvey,
Hawaii,
Hawking,
health,
heat,
heating degree days,
heavy rain,
heavy rainfall,
heavy snow,
hemisphere,
Hendry,
Hermine,
High,
High Plains,
high surf,
high temperature,
high wind warnings,
high-pressure,
home,
homework,
Honolulu,
hose,
Houston,
humid,
humidity,
hurricane,
hurricane hunter aircraft,
Hurricane Matthew,
hurricanes,
I75,
Ian,
ice,
ice cap,
ice storm,
Illinois,
image,
images,
inch,
India,
Indiana,
Indianapolis,
infrared,
instability,
Insurance,
Intermountain,
IOS,
IOS 7,
Iowa,
iphone,
IR,
Ireland,
Irma,
IRS,
isothermal layer,
Jamaica,
Japan,
jet stream,
Jupiter,
Kansas,
Karen,
kitchen,
koppen,
Krispy Kreme,
lake,
lake effect,
Lake Erie,
Lake Ontario,
Lake Tahoe,
lake-effect snow,
latitude,
law,
LD,
learn,
learning,
Lee,
Lee County,
life,
lift,
Lightning,
lightning detection,
logic,
Long Island,
longshore current,
Louisiana,
low,
low temperature,
low-pressure,
low-pressure system,
low-pressure systems,
lows,
luggage,
Macy's,
mail,
Maine,
mall,
Marco Island,
Mars,
Maryland,
Massachusetts,
math,
Mathworks,
Matthew,
Maui,
MCC,
MCS,
media,
Memorial Day,
mentor,
mentoring,
meso-cyclone,
mesocyclone,
mesoscale,
Mesoscale Convective System,
meteorological bomb,
meteorologist,
meteorology,
Mexico,
Miami,
Michigan,
microns,
mid-atlantic,
Midwest,
military,
Minneapolis,
Minnesota,
Mississippi,
Mississippi River valley,
Mississippi Valley,
misture,
mixing,
models,
moisture,
monsoon,
Montague,
Montana,
moods,
moon,
mountain,
mountains,
movie,
Naples,
NASA,
Nate,
National Climatic Data Center,
National Hurricane Center,
natural world,
nature,
Nebraska,
Nevada,
New England,
New Jersey,
New Mexico,
New York,
news,
Newton,
NHC,
NOAA,
nor’easter,
North Carolina,
Northeast,
northern,
northern hemisphere,
Northern Plains,
number,
numbers,
NWS,
Oahu,
Obamacare,
observation,
observations,
observe,
observer,
Ohio,
Ohio Valley,
Okeechobee,
Oklahoma,
omega,
omega block,
omega high,
online,
Ophelia,
order,
organize,
organizing,
OS,
outbreak,
outflow,
outflow boundaries,
outflow boundary,
outlook,
Pacific Northwest,
Palm Beach,
Panhandle,
paper,
parade,
parent,
pattern,
patterns,
Pavlof,
pedometer,
Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia,
photographs,
photography,
Pi,
PiDay,
Plains,
polar,
polar vortex,
political,
ponding,
precipitable water,
precipitation,
preparedness,
pressure,
pressure gradient,
primary,
problem,
Puerto Rico,
Punxsutawney Phil,
question,
radar,
radiosonde,
radius,
rain,
Rain shadow,
rainbow,
rainbows,
raindrop,
raindrops,
rainfall,
rainshadow,
rainy,
record,
records,
Red Flag Warnings,
red tide,
responsibility,
review,
reward,
rewards,
Rhode Island,
ridge,
ridges,
rip current,
ripple,
risk,
Rockies,
Rocky Mountains,
RSW Airport,
Russia,
safety,
Saffir-Simpson,
San Diego,
San Francisco,
Sandy,
Santa Ana,
SAT,
satellite,
Saturn,
scandal,
school,
science,
Scotland,
SDO,
sea breeze,
sea surface temperature,
seabreeze,
seas,
Season,
seasonal,
seasons,
service,
severe,
severe thunderstorms,
severe weather,
shadow,
Shinseki,
shower,
showers,
shutdown,
Sidewalk,
Sierra Nevada,
Sky,
sky awareness,
sky awareness week,
sky optics,
sky watching,
sleet,
small craft advisory,
smoke,
snow,
snow removal,
snowfall,
Snowstorm,
social,
sounding,
south,
South Carolina,
South Dakota,
Southeast,
Southeast U.S.,
southern Plains,
southwest,
southwest Florida,
space,
space weather,
Spaghetti plot,
SPC,
spiders,
spiral bands,
spirals,
spotters,
spring,
St. Cloud,
Starbucks,
statistics,
Steps,
StevenHawking,
stock,
storm,
storm damage,
storm surge,
storm warnings,
storms,
Stormsurge,
STRIIV,
structural current,
student,
students,
study,
sub-freezing,
sublimation,
subsidence,
summer,
summer camp,
summer camps,
sun,
sun dog,
sunset,
sunspot,
Super Tuesday,
supercells,
supercomputer,
surge,
SW Florida,
Swells,
Tampa,
technology,
teen,
temperature,
Tennessee,
Tennessee River Valley,
Tennessee Valley,
test,
test-taking,
tests,
Texas,
thanksgiving,
The Perfect Storm,
The Weather Channel,
think,
thinking,
thundersnow,
thunderstorm,
thunderstorms,
tides,
time,
tornado,
tornado warnings,
tornado watches,
tornadoes,
train,
training,
transportation,
travel,
tropic,
tropical,
tropical cyclone,
tropical storm,
tropical storms,
tropical wave,
tropical weather,
tropicalstorm,
tropics,
troughs,
Tug Hill Plateau,
tutoring,
twas,
TWC,
twilight,
typhoon,
U.K.,
U.S.,
UK,
unenhanced imagery,
updraft,
Upper level,
upper low,
Upper winds,
upper-level winds,
US,
Utah,
vacation,
vegetation,
Venus,
veteran,
virga,
Virginia,
virtual,
virus,
visibility,
visible,
vocabulary,
volcano,
vortex,
voting,
Waikiki,
walk,
warm,
warmth,
warning,
warnings,
warranty,
Washington DC,
watch,
watches,
water,
water cycle,
water vapor,
waterspout,
Watertown,
wave,
waves,
weather,
weather camp,
WeatherNation,
west,
West Coast,
West Virginia,
Wet-bulb effect,
wildfire,
wind,
wind chill,
wind shear,
winds,
windy,
winter,
winter storm,
Wipha,
Wisconsin,
word,
work,
WRN,
WV,
Wyoming,
Yucatan Peninsula,