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Mammatus clouds - I captured this image this morning after the
decision was made to stand down because I thought it would
illustrate the unstable air conditions that Joe found aloft. Here is
Chris Gullikson's explanation of this type of cloud:
Mammatus is typically associated with the anvil of a
thunderstorm but is also commonly seen with non-storm events.
This particular mammatus formation is the result of sinking air
in a mid-level stratus deck at about 10,000 feet. Snow is
falling from the stratus deck and evaporating in the very dry
air below the cloud layer. The evaporation causes the air to
cool and to sink, creating these lower hanging, bulbous cloud
formations.
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