Credit & Copyright: Joel Knain
Explanation:
What could create a huge hole the clouds?
Such a hole, likely hundreds of meters across, was
photographed last month from a driveway near
Mobile, Alabama,
USA.
Very unusual to see,
hole-punch clouds like this are still the topic of
meteorological speculation.
A leading hypothesis holds that the
hole-punch cloud is caused by falling ice-crystals.
The ice-crystals could originate in a higher cloud or be
facilitated by a passing airplane exhaust.
If the air has just the
right temperature and moisture content, the
falling crystals
will absorb water from the air and grow.
For this to happen, the water must be
so cold that all it needs is a surface to freeze on.
The moisture lost from the air increases the
evaporation rate from the cloud water droplets
so they dissipate to form the hole.
The now heavier ice crystals continue to fall and form the more
tenuous wispy cloud-like
virga seen inside and just below the hole.
Water and ice from the
virga evaporates before it reaches the ground.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
Yanvar' Fevral' Mart Aprel' Mai Iyun' Iyul' Avgust Sentyabr' Oktyabr' Noyabr' Dekabr' |
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami:
Earth - clouds - Zemlya - oblaka
Publikacii so slovami: Earth - clouds - Zemlya - oblaka | |
Sm. takzhe:
Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >> |