Rapid City Mammatus Clouds
October 11, 2006
Provided and copyright by: Tara Butler
Summary authors & editors: Tara Butler
The remarkable mammatus clouds shown above were photographed from Rapid City, South Dakota, at sunset, on July 26, 2006. These reddened sky pouches formed after a 45 minute rain storm at the close of a hot summer's day. Mammatus clouds most often result from down-drafts of cold air within mature thunderstorm cells and are usually observed on the underside of a spreading cumulonimbus anvil. Displays of mammatus clouds can last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more.
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