Stormy Weather near Paris

February 21, 2013

Stormy Weather near Paris 2

PhotographerBertrand Kulik; Bertrand’s Web site
Summary Authors: Bertrand Kulik; Jim Foster

The photo above showing stormy skies outside of Paris, France was captured the afternoon of Christmas Day 2012. The camera is facing northeast. Cumulonimbus clouds and thunderstorms are most often regarded as a summertime phenomenon, but on this early winter’s day, a little atmospheric disturbance passed through north central France causing just enough instability and surface heating to trigger cumulonimbus development. Cold air aloft moving toward the surface in downdrafts is likely responsible for the pouch-like mammatus clouds at center and left. Mammatus are quite often observed in the part of a storm that’s losing strength. Rain can be seen falling from the clouds at lower right. Note the dash of color, from a rainbow fragment, just to the left of the farm buildings.

Photo details: Camera Model: Canon EOS 7D; Focal Length: 28.0mm; Aperture: f/12.9; Exposure Time: 0.012 s (1/83); ISO equiv: 100.