What is a horseshoe cloud?
Clouds often captivate onlookers as they take on curious, billowing, or ominous shapes. One cloud that has been specifically named after an object is the horseshoe cloud, one of the rarest documented cloud formations.
The unusual atmospheric sight was spotted most recently over Colorado Springs, Colorado, on March 31, 2024, by Michael Johnson on X (formerly Twitter).
A horseshoe vortex cloud drifts above a stoplight in Colorado Springs, Colorado on March 31, 2024. (X/Michael Johnson)
One particularly famous horseshoe cloud was sighted over Battle Mountain, Nevada, on March 8, 2018. As the photo went viral, it generated a lot of buzz among cloud watchers and curious readers.
According to the National Weather Service in Elko, Nevada, this cloud formation occurs when rotating air or shearing horizontal winds create spin. Wind shear, or changing wind speed and direction with altitude, can help to create spin. Gently rising air can then force part of the cloud upward.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell said he has been an avid weather photographer for more than 40 years but it wasn't until the summer of 2017 when he walked out his front door that he captured a photo of the rare sight in person, right above his house.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell, an avid weather photographer, photographed his first horseshoe vortex cloud in State College, PA, on July 24, 2017.
Ferrell also documented a horseshoe cloud drifting across his webcam on March 16, 2024.
A horseshoe vortex cloud drifts over State College, PA in this webcam timelapse from March 16, 2024. (Jesse Ferrell)
