this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2024
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Weather and Meteorology

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Why are the rain clouds shaped in this way? (feddit.org)
submitted 1 month ago by Peter_Arbeitslos@feddit.org to c/weather@feddit.uk
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A bug in the matrix or just the radar? This is no normal cloud-shape, is it?

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[–] wren@feddit.uk 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

looks a bit like convective cells to me! they happen in summer (as long as there is sufficient surface heating to drive the convection) - they're like bubbles in boiling water.

It looks like you've got high pressure over there though... the high pressure may just limit the cloud heights and intensity of the precipitation?

Edit: these look a little too big to be pop-up cells, but they still look more convective (instead of frontal). a bit suspiciously too round, though. Do they stay consistent and track across the sky, or are they more bubble-like?

2nd edit: looks like I'm wrong and it is a radar artefact :) (this is why looking at radar timelapses is more important than just single-frames!)

3rd edit: it's not an artefact, it's a real signal! it's insects!

[–] Umbrias@beehaw.org 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

what a roller coaster, and the ominous unexplained insect edit is a cherryon top

[–] wren@feddit.uk 1 points 1 month ago

aha here's a full explanation of the thought process:

  • no other weather report matches these patterns
  • they're suspiciously round and not blobby like real clouds
  • they're each suspiciously localised around the radars in the network
  • there are lots of types of radar artefacts, including close-to-radar ground-clutter (this is what I assumed it was) but it's too consistent and large of a signal for that
  • so it must be something uniform, in the air instead of on the ground, that isn't rain
  • bugs are about the size of a big rain drop! enough to be picked up as a strong signal by the radar and enough to prevent the radar from seeing long distances
  • It's also been flying-ant-day recently across Europe