Morning Glory Clouds Over Australia


What causes these long, strange clouds? No one is sure. A rare type of cloud known as a Morning Glory
cloud can stretch 1,000 kilometers long and occur at altitudes up to two kilometers high. Although similar
roll clouds have been seen at specific places across the world, the ones over Burketown, Queensland
Australia occur predictably every spring. Long, horizontal, circulating tubes of air might form when
flowing, moist, cooling air encounters an inversion layer, an atmospheric layer where air temperature
atypically increases with height. These tubes and surrounding air could cause dangerous turbulence for
airplanes when clear. Morning Glory clouds can reportedly achieve an airspeed of 60 kilometers per hour
over a surface with little discernible wind. Pictured above, photographer Mick Petroff photographed some
Morning Glory clouds from his airplane near the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia.

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