Last night I posted a blog entry about the storms I was worried about for today. They appeared right on time! They were doozies. We had reports of hail and substantial downpours that flooded some low lying areas. Cloud-to-ground lightning set off house fires!
Interesting weather pictures were common tonight. This might be the most interesting! It comes from Jess and Mike in Lisbon, CT (where there were no severe storms).
You’re looking at a mammatus cloud.
Mammatus, also known as mammatocumulus (meaning “mammary cloud” or “breast cloud”), is a meteorological term applied to a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud. The name mammatus, derived from the Latin mamma (meaning “udder” or “breast”), refers to a resemblance between the characteristic shape of these clouds and the breast of a woman.
More unusual than rare they are often associated with severe weather. A common emotion when seeing mammatus clouds for the first time is fear. Actually that fear might not leave even after a first sighting!