Pages

Feb 13, 2012

A Ghastly Cloud Tsunami Creeps Up on the Beach

Earlier this week, Panama City Beach, Florida was overwhelmed with a sweeping wave of fog that was not unlike a cloud tsunami. It creeped onto the beach and rolled right over buildings, giving off an almost supernatural aura.

Meteorologist Dan Satterfield explains how the cloud tsunami phenomenon works:
Cool air offshore was very nearly at the saturation point, with a temperature near 20ºC and a dew point of about 19.5ºC. The air at this temperature can only hold a certain amount of water vapor, and how much it can hold depends heavily on the temperature. If you add more water into the air, a cloud will form, but you can also get a cloud to form by cooling the air. Drop the temperature, and it can no long hold as much water vapor, so some of it will condense out and a cloud will form.
The pictures were taken by Helicopter pilot Mike Schaeffer and JR Hott of Panhandle Helicopter. It seriously looks like ghosts sweeping over Florida. Or dementors looking for Harry Potter. Or a gigantic spiderweb covering the beach. Either way, it's so spectacular it gives me the heebie jeebies. More here.

8 comments:

NayNaySIXX said...

I chuckled at the picture :P

Bart said...

is that luke skywalkers home?

Outcast said...

The picture gave me a laugh too though I have to admit Star Wars is quite unrelated to the post! That's worrying news about the tsunami too!

aamedor said...

Love the pic, and yes it is Luke Skywalker's home that's the joke lol!

~Fabi said...

I live in Florida, and we see fog like that kind of often. We had a smoke/fog storm that caused a massive pile-up on I-75. What's spookier is during the flashfires here, it will rain ash just like that scene in Silent Hill.

Potholderz said...

I live in texas and we don't get to much fog, but its always fun driving in it at night when it does roll in.

Shaun said...

Sweet, desert igloos.... fab

G said...

never heard of cloud tsunami's