Rick Geiss in Gulf Shores, Alabama, acquired fascinating pictures of a huge cumulus congestus cloud with a microburst pouring a rain shaft over the lake in July 2016.
Online, these pictures have suddenly gained popularity. The image, also known as the “perfectly symmetrical mushroom cloud,” has captured the internet’s attention with its perfectly symmetrical mushroom shape. It makes people think of enormous Christmas trees or the beloved fungus from Super Mario in real life.
The picture gained much attention after being tweeted by Alabama meteorologist Jake Dunn, who described it as “quite possibly the best example of a mushroom cloud I have ever seen.” But what exactly is this cloud?
Jeff Halverson, a severe weather specialist with The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang, identified the cloud as a cumulus congestus cloud. It has the classic appearance of a storm cloud, with a lofty cone of fluffy white vapor perched squarely on a short stem of menacing gray rain. The cloud’s characteristic shape, which gives it a tapering appearance, is shaped by the updraft’s borders, which pull drier, cooler air inward and upward. This process also causes some of the cloud’s edges to evaporate.
The viral cloud is a “pop-up” thundershower, which frequently develops and fades in less than 30 minutes and happens independently of larger meteorological systems like cold fronts. A pop-up storm can occur with only a little rain and the scorching summer sun.
Warm, humid air rises high in the sky, and eventually, the air column, or updraft, gets to a height where the humid air starts to cool into water droplets. The rain starts to fall again after lingering within the cloud for around 15 or 20 minutes.
In a previous statement, Halverson claimed that “as the downdraft plummets straight down through the updraft, it snuffs out its buoyancy.” In the final moments of the storm, if there isn’t a self-sustaining updraft, it nearly ends itself.
While the image could be intriguing, it’s important to remember that not all mushroom clouds are good. Pyrocumulus clouds are an exceptional example. When these clouds develop over blazing wildfires, they can produce their lightning, thunder, and even strong winds.
Finally, it becomes clear why this perfectly symmetrical mushroom cloud, captured by Gulf Shores, Alabama-based photographer Rick Geiss in July 2016, has gained so much attention online.
It is an exquisite and uncommon depiction of a cumulus congestus cloud with a thundershower that appears suddenly. But it’s important to remember that not all mushroom clouds are as benign, so when you see one, you should move cautiously.
