Richmond Roll Cloud
March 20, 2018
Photographer: Kyle Fanus
Summary Authors: Kyle Fanus; Jim Foster
Shown above is a panorama of an impressive roll cloud that swept over the Richmond International Airport (just east of Richmond, Virginia) on the morning on February 5, 2017. It was accompanied by strong winds and ushered in cold air, but there were no reports of severe weather. Roll clouds are in general much more imposing as they approach than when overhead, particularly when viewed from open expanses, such as an airport or a body of water spin. Tumbling downwind about their horizontal axis, these attention-getting formations are a type of arcus cloud.