Survival guide: Recognize which clouds mean danger
A breakdown of ominous-looking clouds and whether there is imminent danger associated with them.
AccuWeather’s Ariella Scalese explains the dangers of lightning strikes as part of Lightning Safety Awareness Week. She explains the different ways you can get struck, and how to protect yourself.
During severe weather outbreaks, conditions can change rapidly and the weather can turn volatile quickly.
It is crucial to follow severe weather and tornado-related watches and warnings during episodes of severe storms. Keeping a weather radio nearby, with extra batteries handy, is a must.
If you are out on the open road, staying tuned to severe weather alerts and being able to read the clouds for severe weather can help save your life.
The following is a breakdown of ominous-looking clouds and whether there is imminent danger associated with them.
Cumulonimbus Clouds
Rapid vertical growth in these cauliflower-looking cumulonimbus clouds shows that there is a mature thunderstorm, likely producing heavy rain. Abundant moisture and instability due to cool air aloft and heating at the surface set the stage for cumulonimbus to develop.
Cumulonimbus clouds (Photo credit; Getty Images)
A lifting mechanism, such as a cold front, can help trigger these clouds to form.
Heavy rain, frequent lightning, strong winds and hail can be threats associated with cumulonimbus clouds.
Scud Clouds
Scud clouds may appear to be ominous as they hang vertically below a cumulonimbus cloud. Sometimes, scud clouds are mistaken for funnel clouds.
However, these clouds are benign and non-rotating. They often have a ragged appearance that sets them apart from the often smooth funnel clouds.
Shelf Clouds
Shelf clouds often form at the leading edge of a gust front or outflow boundary from a thunderstorm or strong winds flowing down and outward from a storm.
A person in Sesser, Illinois, photographing a shelf cloud as it approaches on May 8, 2024. (AccuWeather/ Tony Laubach)
The outer part of a shelf cloud is often smoother with a notable rising motion exhibited by a tiered look (hence, the name shelf cloud). Underneath, a turbulent, unsettled appearance is often the case.
A shelf cloud should be seen as a harbinger of strong winds, so take caution.
Wall Clouds
A wall cloud is a cloud that is lowered from a thunderstorm, forming when rapidly rising air causes lower pressure below the storm's main updraft.
"Wall clouds can range from a fraction of a mile up to nearly 5 miles in diameter," according to the National Weather Service.
Storm chaser Tony Laubach was communicating live warnings on the AccuWeather network as a rotating wall cloud presented serious potential danger near the Oklahoma-Texas border.
Wall clouds that rotate are a warning sign of very violent thunderstorms. They can be an indication that a tornado will touch down within minutes or even within an hour.
Funnel Clouds
A funnel cloud is a rotating column of air (visible due to condensation) that does not reach the ground.
If a funnel cloud reaches all the way to the ground, it is then classified as a tornado.
When out on the road, funnel clouds should be treated as tornadoes, since they could touch down.
Tornadoes
Laura Gaynor captured this incredible video as a tornado tore across a road in Nebraska on June 16.
A tornado is a rotating column of air, reaching all the way to the ground. Strong tornadoes are one of the most destructive forces of nature on a small scale, the strongest of which can level entire towns.
A roaring noise, often compared to that of a train, can be heard in many cases when a tornado touches down.
Vehicles are NOT a safe place to be if there is a tornado nearby and if you are in a vehicle, do not take shelter under an overpass. Parking under an overpass blocks the roadway for others who may be trying to evacuate or for emergency vehicles. It can also cause panic or pileups.
HD Overpass Not a Tornado Shelter
Thunderstorm Anvil Clouds
Anvil clouds are the flat top of a thunderstorm, or cumulonimbus cloud.
They can spread up to "hundreds of miles downwind from the thunderstorm itself," according to the National Weather Service.
Lightning can strike from anvil clouds, even far away from a thunderstorm. Lightning described as striking "from out of the blue" is usually from an anvil cloud that has drifted from a thunderstorm.
Mammatus Clouds
Striking mammatus clouds can sometimes be seen below thunderstorm anvil clouds.
The rounded and smooth look of mammutus clouds captivates onlookers.
Storm chaser Tony Laubach caught these breathtaking mammatus clouds over Maywood, Nebraska, on Sept. 21, while out on the road.
They are often found underneath anvil clouds of severe thunderstorms; however, they can form underneath clouds associated with non-severe thunderstorms as well.
Asperatus Clouds
An abundance of heat in the atmosphere is needed to produce enough energy for the dramatic, rolling formations of asperatus clouds. Another factor is the interaction of very moist air (often on the fringes of thunderstorm complexes) with very dry air.
The darkness of the clouds is likely due to the large amount of water vapor.
Asperatus clouds are not necessarily accompanied by stormy weather. In fact, they have often been observed without the development of thunderstorms.
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