6 February 2012
Fantastic Condo Wave Clouds
Posted by Dan Satterfield
Image taken by J.R. Hott of Panhandle Helicopters of Panama City, Fl. on Sunday 5 Feb.
Panhandle Helicopter tours posted this pic on their Facebook page Sunday, and I sure wish I’d been on the ride! What is happening here is fairly easy to explain and it has to do with the wind, the condos, and the moisture in the air.
Parcels of air cool at a known rate when lifted. Once they become saturated they cool at a slower rate because heat is released as water vapour condenses. Image cosy. Wash. State Uni.
Cool air offshore was very nearly at the saturation point, with a temperature near 20ºC and a dew point of about 19.5ºC. The air at this temperature can only hold a certain amount of water vapour, and how much it can hold depends heavily on the temperature. If you add more water into the air, a cloud will form, but you can also get a cloud to form by cooling the air. Drop the temperature, and it can no long hold as much water vapour, so some of it will condense out and a cloud will form.
In this case, the air was cooled by lifting it about 50 meters over the top of the condos. A parcel of unsaturated air will cool when lifted at a rate of 1ºC per 100 meters. In this case, it probably cooled about 0.5 degrees C, but that was all it took! On the back side of the condos, the air slowly sinks back down and warms at the same rate. As it warms the air can hold more water vapour and the cloud evaporates and disappears!
I chatted with J.R. Hott, the owner of Panhandle Helicopters, and he tells me that he sees this effect a few times a year. This one was one of the best, because many times it fogs in before the can get his chopper in the air to grab a snap! If you find yourself down that way on a day that is a bit misty, head on over and take a ride. You just might see it for yourself!
Knowing what is happening makes it even more neat to look at IMHO. Physics in action!
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GeekMom » Blog Archive » Humidity + Lift = Stunning Photo Over Panama City Beach, Florida
on 7 February 2012Fantastic Condo Wave Clouds [from the web] | Soaring Cafe
on 8 February 2012Strange clouds form spectacular sight over Panama City Beach : Beach Maniac
on 9 February 2012Strange Clouds Form Over Florida Beach
on 10 February 2012Tsunami di nuvole: lo spettacolo che ha investito la Florida | Informare per Resistere
on 10 February 2012
Comments
Fantastic Condo Wave Clouds8 Comments
Dan! It’s been a while, I hope all is well with you. Thanks to your blog, this image caught our attention at The Weather Channel. We’re airing it tonight with an explanation from Dr. Greg Forbes. (7p/10p est)
All the best to a fellow Okie,
Stephen.
Hi Stephen. All is well. I was at a seminar with Dr. Forbes in Colorado last month. Tell him hi for me! His talk was fantastic.
I plan to point to this post on GeekMom.com this week. Thanks for the great explanation!
Dan,
One of your followers sent us your blog post which we promptly posted on the Soaring Cafe here:
soaringcafe.com/2012/02/fantastic-condo-wave-clouds-from-the-web/
Small world … Rand and I live in Huntsville too!
Dan- this is really awesome. I should tell Mike-our fog guy.
seve
Yes, it is amazing no??
Dan
ps I am going to the Chief Metr. at Salisbury starting in March. Hop and a jump from Wallops.
Mr. Satterfield, I really miss seeing you do the weather on WHNT-19. since the blizzard of 93 you were the only one I watched for the weather
Thnx Dean. I remember that night well. That was almost too much snow for even me!