Cb incus

Formation of cumulonimbus capillatus incus cloud to the SE of Malta which formed due to an approaching upper-level trough from the NW as indicated by the 500mb chart on the fourth thumbnail in combination with strong daytime heating coming from the land in a surface NW wind that was lighter than it was over both sides of the Maltese Islands as indicated by the surface wind map on the seventh thumbnail. Both the visible satellite and rain radar images on the fifth and sixth thumbnails respectively confirm the localized nature of the cloud which produced a heavy rain shower mostly at sea. The first thumbnail is a shot over part of the cloud using a wide view and no zoom. This indicates the enormity and the vicinity at which the cloud formed making only a small picture of the panoramic main photo taken through iphone. The second thumbnail photo taken just around 5 minutes after the main cloud shows the quick development of the cloud under observation as it quickly spreads out. Upon looking at the weather sounding on the third thumbnail, one realizes that once the lid was broken, heat energy below had built up to then lead an explosive cloud development in the convection above. Such cloud structure is typically observed in Summer over the Maltese Islands as it requires hot sources.

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *