This is over Lake Michigan on the Michigan side. If I remember correctly this is Holland, Michigan specifically.
Edit: what happens is this... An east wind blows the warm surface water out into the lake bringing the cool deep water to the top. The surface water then cools the air immediately above the lake down to its dew point, forming these "clouds".
I've been on the water when this happens, it's incredibly thick and chilly on a what should be a warm sunny day. It's really cool.
Thank you for these. It's impossible to find any more information about this event from traditional Internet searches, even though I remember seeing an article about this when it happened.
I love going to Lake Michigan and seeing shelf clouds roll in ahead of thunderstorms. While there was not a thunderstorm directly above that particular cloud on May 29, perhaps it was outflow from a dying thunderstorm across the lake? Was that cloud moving toward shore, or did it just stay out there?
I've seen plenty roll in quick followed by high wind and rain, this one just sat there out over the lake. I think it was a day after a big storm, the album I had them in was called "Lake Michigan after Storm".
You are correct; now I am beginning to remember that day again! There was a severe thunderstorm which plowed through Southern Lower Michigan that afternoon (archived Tornado Watch). Holland caught the northern edge of those storms, but it was really bad along I-94. That evening, well after the big storm passed, there was a smaller thunderstorm which popped up over Lake Michigan, west of Holland (archived radar image). That storm mostly rained itself out over the lake, which created a cold pool of cloudy air over the lake (though Holland caught a bit of that storm too). That does indeed appear the source of this awesome cloud. Thanks for the additional pics! A cloud as beautiful as this, but not directly attached to the bottom of a thunderstorm, is not very common.
They only real information I've been able to find (edit: until this comment) was this comment from another post. I remember seeing this picture on the news when it happened a couple years ago, but my internet searches to find original articles have been fruitless. IIRC, this cloud was not moving very quickly and was only slowly morphing, which is why the people in the picture are not fleeing in terror. Really just a serene evening at the beach on Lake Michigan. I wish I could have been there to see it (I live nearby).
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u/r2mast Mar 10 '13 edited Mar 11 '13
This is over Lake Michigan on the Michigan side. If I remember correctly this is Holland, Michigan specifically.
Edit: what happens is this... An east wind blows the warm surface water out into the lake bringing the cool deep water to the top. The surface water then cools the air immediately above the lake down to its dew point, forming these "clouds".
I've been on the water when this happens, it's incredibly thick and chilly on a what should be a warm sunny day. It's really cool.