Mystery Clouds: Uncovering the Enigma

[deathbystereo]

Can you explain this?

 

[russ_watters]

Welcome to PF!

I'm not sure I'm following - I just see a cloud. What is the mystery? Are you referring to the fact that it repeatedly forms and then dissipates? It has to be fed and if it isn't fed by a steady stream of moist air, it will dissipate. Apparently, whatever is feeding that one is unsteady. See:
https://www.classzone.com/books/ear...803/es1803page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

 

[davenn]

Like Russ, I don't see anything unusual
just clouds forming and disappearing, they do that all the timeDave

 

[256bits]

I can only guess that the film maker considers it a mystery that he did not have to pan his camera to follow a horizontal movement of the clouds forming and disappearing. Perhaps he/she should reflect upon renaming the video to a less leading description.

 

[lightandmatter]

Could be a cumulus cloud forming at the dew point of rising hot air from the ground (thermal up rising cumulus cloud) being kicked off by a region of rotor turbulence overhead which is found under some clear blue sky wave wind flow conditions.

Sorry this is hard to write on an iPad

On the following website look for the section 3 graphic.
http://www.briangwilliams.us/weather-climate/land-and-sea-breezes.html
Under the sections 3.Winds due to topographic barriers

I think the cloud is a cumulus being kicked up from the ground because of an overhead rotor air instability hence its stationary position, I think you can see the descending part of the cloud, it could be the actual rotor cloud but it doesn't have the right rotation in it which leads me to think it could be a vertical rising cumulus cloud leading into the uprising part of the rotor, all the usual overhead rotor and waves cloud can't seen because the conditions are not just right for further cloud formation.

We would use these thermals to gain height in a glider/sailplane, then climb into the rotor it is not to turbulent and then into the overhead wave.

I could easily be wrong as well.

Was there a large mountain upwind within 3-10 miles?

The fact the clouds come and go 3-4 times over 20 min in a stationary position means it's a wind flow driven phenomena and not the usual heat convection thermal/cumulus

 

[James Holland]

weird that they all take the same rough shape

 

[Tom.G]

Was there a large mountain upwind within 3-10 miles?

No mountain but there is large oil refinery nearby. I used to live a few blocks from the refinery and there were some weird atmospheric effects on occasion. (Along with the explosions and fires every few years.)

 

[davenn]

well there is a large hill area there on the coast

gosh, been a few years since my last visit to that area

weird that they all take the same rough shape

well nothing unusual with that either

did you take this video ? if you did,

what direction were you facing ?
what is on the ground directly below the cloud formation area ?Dave

 

[AgentCachat]

Can you explain this?

Clouds forming and disappearing? Happens every day. There appear to be trees below the clouds. This could be due to evapotranspiration, combined with temperature changes. Without more context, its just guessing.

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Well, the video is elapsed, which is why it looks like the cloud is appearing and disappearing almost immediately. If we all sat there to watch it happen, it definitely would not look like that. We probably would not have even noticed.

 

[rootone]

It's a cumulus type cloud, so it's being produced by warm air rising, probably from some heat source on the ground since the position is fairly constant.
There are hundreds of possible heat sources on the ground, a small forest fire or a factory chimney are two obvious ones.

 

[deathbystereo]

These tend to happen sometimes I catch them forming visually it is just a single cloud that materializes then dissipates over and over. Yes you can see it happen even with real time. I sped it up to show how many times it continues. There isn't any factory over that area and if this is normal why don't we see clouds doing it right before our eyes. It would look pretty crazy seeing all the clouds doing this over and over. I stopped filming because it kept going.

 

[deathbystereo]

Another mystery is the way it stayed in one place while other clouds kept moving. I've seen this a couple times before and they tend to stay put when doing this. Why would the temperature in the air cause this to happen to just that cloud meanwhile the clouds around act normal and move along normally? Just wondering if anyone could bring some scientific facts of why.

 

[deathbystereo]

Could be a cumulus cloud forming at the dew point of rising hot air from the ground (thermal up rising cumulus cloud) being kicked off by a region of rotor turbulence overhead which is found under some clear blue sky wave wind flow conditions.

Sorry this is hard to write on an iPad

On the following website look for the section 3 graphic.
http://www.briangwilliams.us/weather-climate/land-and-sea-breezes.html
Under the sections 3.Winds due to topographic barriers

I think the cloud is a cumulus being kicked up from the ground because of an overhead rotor air instability hence its stationary position, I think you can see the descending part of the cloud, it could be the actual rotor cloud but it doesn't have the right rotation in it which leads me to think it could be a vertical rising cumulus cloud leading into the uprising part of the rotor, all the usual overhead rotor and waves cloud can't seen because the conditions are not just right for further cloud formation.

We would use these thermals to gain height in a glider/sailplane, then climb into the rotor it is not to turbulent and then into the overhead wave.

I could easily be wrong as well.

Was there a large mountain upwind within 3-10 miles?

The fact the clouds come and go 3-4 times over 20 min in a stationary position means it's a wind flow driven phenomena and not the usual heat convection thermal/cumulus

No mountains and it actually did this about 13 times i caught on camera about 5

 

[deathbystereo]

It's a cumulus type cloud, so it's being produced by warm air rising, probably from some heat source on the ground since the position is fairly constant.
There are hundreds of possible heat sources on the ground, a small forest fire or a factory chimney are two obvious ones.

Ive seen these while other clouds are right around a cloud doing this. Qhy wouldn't the other clouds follow suit?

 

[deathbystereo]

No mountain but there is large oil refinery nearby. I used to live a few blocks from the refinery and there were some weird atmospheric effects on occasion. (Along with the explosions and fires every few years.)

Nowhere near that one you refer to i used to live down the street from that refinery

 

[deathbystereo]

Like Russ, I don't see anything unusual
just clouds forming and disappearing, they do that all the timeDave

So you're saying that clouds do that normally? That would look pretty peculiar because even I sped the video up it changed continuously. Imagine clouds acting like that all at once on a cloudy day people would definitely take notice as they disappear and reappear.

 

[deathbystereo]

well there is a large hill area there on the coast

gosh, been a few years since my last visit to that area

well nothing unusual with that either

did you take this video ? if you did,

what direction were you facing ?
what is on the ground directly below the cloud formation area ?Dave

I did and it was north but I've also seen them while over city's like LA and while driving south over LA count areas

 

[rootone]

Cumulus type clouds usually do move with the general direction of the wind, taking along with them the uprising thermals which feed them.
A well established cumulus cloud is a self sustaining system so long as some amount of warm air is available at a low level to sustain it.
In this case the system is not self sustaining, it starts up then stops, then starts again in the same place , so it must have been produced by a localized hot spot on the ground, or as somebody said, an unusual wind circulation setup produced by local landscape features such as nearby hills

 

[deathbystereo]

Well, the video is elapsed, which is why it looks like the cloud is appearing and disappearing almost immediately. If we all sat there to watch it happen, it definitely would not look like that. We probably would not have even noticed.

No without elapsed time it changed immediately continuous. I sped ot up trying to show how many times it happened. It kept happening too actually my camera stopped taping memory ran out.

 

[deathbystereo]

Cumulus type clouds usually do move with the general direction of the wind, taking along with them the uprising thermals which feed them.
A well established cumulus cloud is a self sustaining system so long as some amount of warm air is available at a low level to sustain it.
In this case the system is not self sustaining, it starts up then stops, then starts again in the same place , so it must have been produced by a localized hot spot on the ground, or as somebody said, an unusual wind circulation setup produced by local landscape features such as nearby hills

No hills nearby but I like your answer the best.

 

[davenn]

So you're saying that clouds do that normally? That would look pretty peculiar because even I sped the video up it changed continuously. Imagine clouds acting like that all at once on a cloudy day people would definitely take notice as they disappear and reappear.

I'm a stormchaser ... I spend lots of hours looking at clouds, their types and their motions

seriously, what you have shown isn't unusual, have seen it a zillion times

Cumulus type clouds usually do move with the general direction of the wind, taking along with them the uprising thermals which feed them.
A well established cumulus cloud is a self sustaining system so long as some amount of warm air is available at a low level to sustain it.
In this case the system is not self sustaining, it starts up then stops, then starts again in the same place , so it must have been produced by a localized hot spot on the ground, or as somebody said, an unusual wind circulation setup produced by local landscape features such as nearby hills

this comment from rootone really does describe the process well

Dave

 

[deathbystereo]

I'm a stormchaser ... I spend lots of hours looking at clouds, their types and their motions

seriously, what you have shown isn't unusual, have seen it a zillion times
this comment from rootone really does describe the process well

Dave

That still doesn't explain anything so you've seen it.. I wanted a scientific explanation. Because clouds aren't supposed to do that normally cloulds have a function they're up there for a reason. What's the reason for that?

 

[phinds]

... if this is normal why don't we see clouds doing it right before our eyes.

That is an exceedingly odd question given that you said you just SAW it right before you eyes.

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

No without elapsed time it changed immediately continuous. I sped ot up trying to show how many times it happened. It kept happening too actually my camera stopped taping memory ran out.

Well, whatever you just saw is still pretty normal, which others have addressed already.

So how long was the complete tape (without speeding it up), out of curiosity??

 

[phinds]

So how long was the complete tape (without speeding it up), out of curiosity??

Had you watched the video you would likely have noticed that the very first thing is says is that it is a 20-minute time-lapsed video

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Had you watched the video you would likely have noticed that the very first thing is says is that it is a 20-minute time-lapsed video

I skipped about one fifth of the beginning of the video when I watched it because the entire thing was buffering and my WiFi connection was poor

I don't know why that happens, but it does all the time for YouTube videos . . .

But thanks for answering my question even if you meant it in a reproachful way (you did, didn't you?).

 

[phinds]

But thanks for answering my question even if you meant it in a reproachful way (you did, didn't you?).

I apologize for that. It is a serious character flaw that I have that I just HAVE to jump on trivial errors (or what appear to be errors) made by others. I manage to restrain myself far more than you might believe if you read a lot of my posts, but I appreciate your pointing out that I need to keep working on it.

EDIT: that's a bummer about your problem w/ youtube videos. I would find that extremely annoying. I jerk constantly about how much money Time Warner charges but I do have to say that their cable internet service is excellent.

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

I apologize for that. It is a serious character flaw that I have that I just HAVE to jump on trivial errors (or what appear to be errors) made by others. I manage to restrain myself far more than you might believe if you read a lot of my posts, but I appreciate your pointing out that I need to keep working on it.

EDIT: that's a bummer about your problem w/ youtube videos. I would find that extremely annoying. I ***** constantly about how much money Time Warner charges but I do have to say that their cable internet service is excellent.

Watch yourself phinds

No problem. Your sarcasm and brute frankness kills me. Why do you think I follow you?

 

[deathbystereo]

That is an exceedingly odd question given that you said you just SAW it right before you eyes.

All clouds, at once, together, in unison throughout the day. That would be ODD. So no I don't see that everyday all clouds at once. I saw one instance that day and have seen it a couple of times only before they are odd instances when I do catch them. Imagine if that were to happen in unison people would definitely notice.