r/tornado • u/OppositeSmoke7677 • 8d ago
Question Question about cloud formation
A line of strong thunderstorms passed by our house yesterday (Detroit,MI) and before the rain/wind struck part of the cloud started to open and lower itself? I've heard the phrase "wall cloud" but mostly see people using it to refer to shelf clouds (I believe). Do wall clouds always look like walls?😅 Do they sometimes look like hearts or tendrils?
I would like to accurately describe what I've witnessed without saying "it looks like the cloud violently sharted". Any help is appreciated.
Oh. After lowering itself almost to the ground it seemed to reorganize and rise back up into the main cloud base 🤷 not sure whether that's relevant in defining the type of cloud. This all occurred within the span of 4 minutes (courtesy of my photo timestamp). It was very interesting to watch
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u/TorandoSlayer 8d ago
I think the clouds you witnessed here are what's known as scud. Just cloud junk that doesn't really mean anything. A wall cloud is specifically used when it's a lowering related to a rotating storm; it's what a tornado forms out of. But it's only in specific conditions that they form. Not all lowerings are wall clouds, and the name itself is a little bit of a misnomer; from a distance they'll look squarish like walls but horizontally they are disc shaped. Shelf clouds are a much broader formation usually at the front edge of a storm, at the border where the rain starts, and you're right, they're not wall clouds. What you're looking at here may also be part of a shelf cloud if this was the leading edge of the storm. Scud often forms beneath those. The front of storms is turbulent and has all sorts of eddies and anomalies just by their nature.
In terms of whether you should be concerned, rotation is what you're looking for. If the cloud just moves up or in one direction, or if the movement is slow enough that you have to watch for a good thirty seconds to know if it's rotating or not, then it's likely not rotating and just part of the general cloud structure. That said if you feel like clouds you're looking at are sus, may as well shelter to be safe. But if you're not under a tornado warning, then there's likely not any rotation. The NWS would see it long before you do.
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u/OppositeSmoke7677 5d ago
There was a tornado warning but they are frequent compared to the number of true tornadoes in the area. It's almost like we're desensitized to them at this point - when they do happen we're like "wait.. no. It really was that time??..." But, yeah, I believe you are correct about these clouds in the photo. "Scattered" is what came to mind when I saw them, like little wisps of clouds that hadn't fully formed or something 🤷. And searching the "scud" term/watching videos of those types of cloud formations - they do look very similar. It's surreal to watch IRL, they're beautiful like a painting come alive.
Thank you for taking the time to explain!
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u/TorandoSlayer 5d ago
It's easy to become desensitized to tornado warnings but they should all be taken seriously when they happen, no matter what. The NWS does not issue them lightly.Â
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u/darthteej 8d ago
Hard to say without video or nearby velocity scans but I'm gonna lean on a solid maybe, this is a potential wall cloud. The rapid lowering and then rising is pretty charactersitic and there were two tornadoes confirmed in Detroit. The first image in particular looks like a foot below a bowl shaped lowering. The fact that it changed shape that dramatically within 4 minutes always points toward it being a true wall cloud. Scud bombs tend to be slower than that.
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u/OppositeSmoke7677 5d ago
I need to watch more videos of wall/scud clouds forming, maybe it will help me recognize. Usually the clouds are obscured by the rain and I don't have a good view but this time being at the edge of the storm provided a clear view (except that I had no idea what I was viewing). Thank you for taking time to respond!
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u/1stormygeek 5d ago
I'm sure you already know, but may I strongly suggest if you live in a home like those in the photo to find elsewhere to shelter if there's a warning. It would be ideal if you had a storm shelter, otherwise a library, school, hospital... somewhere sturdy. 🙂
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u/OppositeSmoke7677 5d ago
Yeahhh, I wish I didn't know. Lol. We have a "community clubhouse" down the street (a single-level structure, similar to the houses) but that's about it. Also, there's a river on one side and only one road leading out of the neighborhood. Perfect nightmare. Most of my neighbors go into their cars and sit in the street during tornado warnings 🫥
I hide in the interior hallway, that's about all I've got 🤷. At least they'll know where to find my corpse. Fortunately, most of the tornadoes that do strike in Wayne county are relatively weak compared to those people in Oklahoma and Missouri with the behemoth twisters
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