Incredible Cloud Formations

MAMMATUS CLOUDS
Mammatus means breast clouds, because they look like heaps of breasts hanging down in the air. Aptly named.

LENTICULAR CLOUDS
These disc-shaped clouds often form over mountain peaks, and especially sharp ones can very easily be mistaken for a flying saucer at first glance.

UNDULATUS ASPERATUS
This type of cloud formation is awaiting official acceptance into the International Cloud Atlas, since proposed by the founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society. Yep, the Cloud Appreciation Society… that’s a thing.

CIRRUS KELVIN-HELMHOLTZ
You’ve gotta be quick to spot these ones, they generally only stick around for a few minutes. It’s a shame the guy that founded them didn’t have less of a tongue-twister name.

ROLL CLOUDS
This rare cloud is most commonly seen of a morning in Queensland around October, earning itself the name “Morning Glory”.

ANVIL CLOUDS
Anvil clouds often hold heavy snow in the higher sections, which turn to rain as it descends into the warmer air below. About half the average thunderstorm’s rain was originally ice and snow, even in tropical areas.

CUMULONIMBUS CLOUDS
A common warning sign that a thunderstorm is on its way, these big puffy clouds make for some spectacular photographs.

SONIC BOOM CLOUDS
At that exact moment an aircraft passes a point where it’s travelling faster than the speed of sound, the water in the atmosphere around the aircraft condenses and suddenly becomes visible in the form of a vapour cloud. Science!

TORNADIC SUPERCELL
A supercell is a rotating thunderstorm, where a constant updraft pulls the bottom of the storm up through itself onto the top while the higher sections are pulled down in place.

PILEUS CLOUDS
A Pileus is a cloud resting on top of another cloud, like a hat. There are other variations of clouds within clouds (cloud-ception) but this is the most common one, and as you can see it’s pretty incredible when seen from above.