Encore - Roll Cloud Over Calgary, Alberta
March 09, 2019
Today and every Saturday Earth Science Picture of the Day invites you to rediscover favorites from the past. Saturday posts feature an EPOD that was chosen by viewers like you in our monthly Viewers' Choice polls. Join us as we look back at these intriguing and captivating images.
Photographer: Gry Elise Nyland
Summary Authors: Gry Elise Nyland; Jim Foster
The photo above features an amazing roll cloud over Calgary, Alberta as seen on the morning of June 18, 2013. Roll clouds are a type of arcus cloud often associated with turbulent weather. As is the case here, they sometimes look like a horizontal tornado. Although these cylindrically shaped clouds look quite fierce and may be observed to roll about their horizontal axis, they don't usually generate dangerous winds. Roll clouds are typically found behind outflow boundaries, but unlike shelf clouds, are detached from any close-by cumulonimbus cloud.
Photo Details: Camera: Apple iPhone 4; Focal Length: 3.9mm (35mm equivalent: 35mm); Aperture: f/2.8; Exposure Time: 0.0038 s (1/260); ISO equiv: 80.
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