Incredible NYC Asperatus Clouds This Morning!
An amazing display of asperatus clouds showed up in New York City this morning, and thanks to social media, we got many pictures of them from the ground...
Photo above by @jasonpuris on Instagram, used with permission.
And even some from the air:
Asperatus is a "new" type of cloud that was proposed to be added to the official cloud book in 2009. It hasn't been added yet, but it sounds like it's closer than ever. The cloud has probably always been around, but it has been recognized recently because of the ubiquity of cell phone and digital cameras which capture it.
Thumbnail photo for this blog provided by @deniz_maden_nyc on Instagram, used with permission.
Even WikiPedia can't say how these clouds are formed. In my experience (to oversimplify for the reader), asperatus clouds develop where dry air at the surface meets moist air aloft -- along the edge of rain systems. What you're seeing is the chaotic nature of the atmosphere, given form by the precise wavy layers of air where clouds form. They quickly change shape (see video below).
Photo above taken at the corner of Varick and Canal streets by Larry Greenemeier of Scientific American. Used with permission.
Probably the best explanation I've heard is this one from the Cloud Appreciation Society: "By studying the weather records and using a computer model to simulate the cloud, Graeme found evidence that asperatus is formed in the sort of conditions that produce mammatus clouds, but when the winds at the cloud level cause it to be sheared into wavelike forms known as undulatus."
I actually snapped this pic of (much less prominent) asperatus clouds in New York city last February:
You think those photos are awesome? Time-lapse photography shows the intricate movement of these clouds. I took a time-lapse in 2009 here in State College, Pennsylvania, but for a real show, check out this time-lapse from Nebraska on July 7, 2013!
Want to see more pictures? My previous blogs about asperatus clouds are listed below.
- A New Cloud For My B-Day? You Shouldn't Have... June 5, 2009; 8:23 AM ET
- Dallas Timelapse Clouds, Flooding Videos June 11, 2009; 5:21 PM ET
- Mesoscale Convective System Causes Asperatus Clouds June 7, 2010; 11:02 AM ET
- A Good Day for Asperatus Clouds August 14, 2010; 6:14 PM ET
- Stunning Asperatus Cloud Shots From Pennsylvania MCS June 6, 2011; 1:07 PM ET
- Ohio, Pennsylvania Afflicted With Asperatus-itus October 19, 2011; 11:17 AM ET
