Get AccuWeather alerts right in your browser!
Enable Notifications

WeatherMatrix

Asperitas clouds sighted in western Pennsylvania

By Jesse Ferrell
4/23/2019, 4:05:58 PM

There was a flurry of photos of Asperitas clouds today on the Pennsylvania Weather Watchers group on Facebook. Asperitas clouds are new, at least as far as their official recognition, which I talk about in this AccuWeather story.

PA Asperitas 4/23 #1


The clouds in some cases were accompanied by virga (precipitation which is falling but not reaching the ground) which is not a surprise, since they essentially represent the edge of the precipitation.

PA Asperitas 4/23 #4


The photos above were taken in Mercer County by Donald Martin; below by Laura Kosht at Moraine State Park, PA, and below that, New Castle, PA by Renee Krasinski.

PA Asperitas 4/23 #2


PA Asperitus 4/23 #3


They occurred, as they often do, on the edge of a group of storms where dry air meets moist air, and they were sighted in and around Mercer County, north of Pittsburgh (encircled on the radar/satellite map below).

PA Asperitas Map 4/23


These shots were taken from the WeatherSTEM cameras in Pittsburgh:

PA Asperitas 4/23 Webcams


The animation below shows a time-lapse of the Asperitas clouds on the Pittsburgh camera:


By the time the clouds reached State College this afternoon, they weren't nearly as impressive, but still fun to watch as these WeatherSTEM camera timelapses show:

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

Comments

Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

WeatherMatrix

More Weather Blogs

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jesse Ferrell 1

WeatherMatrix

AccuWeather Meteorologist and Social Media Manager Jesse Ferrell covers extreme weather and the intersection of meteorology and social media.