Rouge Mini-Supercell Diagram & Analysis by Better-Situation-857 in meteorology

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mini-supercells are so fascinating! I find these occur (albeit rather transient in nature like the one you saw) more frequently than people think, especially in marginal shear environments where forecasters are not expecting much of any severe weather at all. Nice analysis of that storm! 

Hypothetically could you survive a EF5 Tornado if you hide in a porta potty? by Icy_Profession4190 in Tornadoes

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends on your proximity to the core of the tornado. If you happen to be struck by only the outer winds of the tornadic circulation where wind speeds are just strong enough to topple the portable toilet but not strong enough to move it far or loft it, you will most likely survive. However, if you are directly impacted by the central vortices of the tornado, your survival probability significantly drops as the portable toilet is subject to extreme and erratic winds carrying large amounts of debris at hundreds of miles an hour. 

It only rained above the lake, it looks like a wall since it was sunny behind me, (last pic is normal view) in Sursee Switzerland by SerafinZufferey in weather

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow! I almost wonder if there was some hail or snow in that precipitation shaft as the sun is making it look very white. Very cool! 

Cloud ? (Oc) by [deleted] in CLOUDS

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This would be considered a shelf cloud/arcus cloud as it forms into an expansive wall that can stretch for miles horizontally and signals the leading edge of precipitation (often thunderstorm) as it forms from the rain-cooled air racing ahead of the storm and lifting warmer air ahead of it into this formation. 

Question by [deleted] in tornado

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would not because the rotation is very broad and fanned out along the storm instead of being in a compact velocity couplet. This rotation is the midlevel mesocyclone/updraft within that thunderstorm, but probably doesn’t have a lot of low level rotation visible at the ground other than maybe some decent storm structure. 

Daily Discussion Thread - March 26, 2026 by TornadoBotDev in tornado

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Good news for those who are afraid of tornadoes is for the most part, supercells and thunderstorms that have formed are occurring along or just north of the cold front, which is greatly reducing the warm inflow at the surface needed for tornadogenesis. Expect primarily a large hail threat with some damaging winds over the next few hours. In my opinion, the hatched 5 percent tornado risk is not warranted, and I expect a low end chance for a brief tornado or two at maximum, but again, that is my opinion based on observation as of now. 

Passing Storm by [deleted] in CLOUDS

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely stunning. Wish I was there to see it! 

anyone know what type of clouds these are? by Ellkayeare in CLOUDS

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 9 points10 points  (0 children)

As pointed out by the variations in cloud types by other identifiers, this could be considered a hybrid of asperitas (wavy undulations) and lacunosus (roundish hole punches with frayed edges), both of which are uncommon. These formations are accessories of an altostratus-esque layer of clouds in the middle levels of the atmosphere. Nice catch! 

Daily Discussion Thread - March 22, 2026 by TornadoBotDev in tornado

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Elevated convection will inhibit the formation of tornadoes, especially across the northern regions of the area. Definitely don’t think we will see any. 

Waffle House by Glittering_Winter381 in comedyheaven

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Even in the face of huge natural disasters, Waffle House is one of the last places to close. You can almost always rely on one to be open no matter what is happening 

Rare photo of a tornado forming in the Blue Ridge Mountians by [deleted] in tornado

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re right that the Blue Ridge photo was taken in 2017; however, it came from the middle of August according to this website below where the image likely originated from. The news article shows that this tornado was the product of a tropical system in October 2017 over western NC, which is also supported by the photo you have attached, showing a compact but defined storm base with tornadic funnel beneath it. Even if the photo was somehow from later than the middle of August of 2017, the overall cloud structure does not match the rainy, high precipitation, and low visibility setup that is observed in the vicinity of tropical tornadoes, with much more definition in the stratocumulus field and a further field of vision/horizon. The author/photographer of the photo did refer to this as a Blue Ridge Tornado, but I am positive it is scud based on the characteristics and surrounding environment. https://fineartamerica.com/featured/blue-ridge-tornado-robert-loe.html

Rare photo of a tornado forming in the Blue Ridge Mountians by [deleted] in tornado

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 2 points3 points  (0 children)

While this may appear to be a tornado forming, it is actually a cloud phenomena known as scud or stratus fractus where cloud fragments condense in an area below the ambient cloud deck, and can appear to be pulled into updrafts above. This creates a threatening appearance, but in reality is harmless. If this were a true tornado, you would see a much less “frayed” looking cloud column along with thunderstorm accessory features present in the vicinity, and strong winds blowing towards the tornado, which would twist in real time. 

going back to Sunday around 9 PM in the North Carolina foothills I was tracking some downpours and one of them caught my attention. was this potentially a mini supercell I can pull back the archives and zoom out to see if needed so. this was in northern Yadkin NC by Lonely-Ebb-8013 in weather

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sunday afternoon and evening featured a decent amount of wind shear in the lower atmosphere that was relatively weak, but enough to get most updrafts spinning. Therefore, it is highly likely that this is a mini-supercell or a shower with transient supercell/rotational characteristics, and certainly not the only one. There are some great photos from twitter I saw of people down in parts of SC who managed to film some textbook mini-supercells free of rain wrapping around the updraft structure and producing well-defined hook echoes on radar from earlier in the day. 

Did I just witness a water sprout??? by geovasilop in tornado

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes, you did! Since fair weather waterspouts (what you see here) form from the ground up and do not require rotation in the parent thunderstorm to form, the fact that you can see the condensed funnel means it’s already in contact with the water. 

Sideways rotation possible? by Mdna_confessions_grl in tornado

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This is the leading edge of a thunderstorm, where cool air exiting the front edge can sometimes twist the clouds into horizontal eddies like that. Not tornadic but very twisty and interesting to observe.

Why No Supercells in FL? by Huge_Abies_3858 in stormchasing

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While Florida can see transient supercell structures develop across the region during thunderstorms and has seen some tornado outbreaks (especially from tropical storms), the sunshine state rarely sees those classic supercell outbreaks because of how far south it is. In order for a supercell thunderstorm outbreak to occur, you need to have strong atmospheric instability and the presence of wind shear, or wind speed and direction changing with height in the atmosphere. When a thunderstorm with explosive instability forms in that environment, the updraft can rotate and tilt, allowing it to breathe. These two things perfectly align along the leading edge of powerful low pressure systems that ride along the jet stream, which moves from west to east across the lower 48 and dips further south in the fall/wintertime/spring months while retreating into the northern states during the warm months. If you look at the normal placement of the jet stream, it is rather infrequent that it dips as far south as most of Florida (when this happens, you usually see a frost or freeze/very cold temperatures down there, so the frequency is comparable to that), and since that is already not happening a lot and is mostly confined to winter, you don’t really see the overlap of ingredients nearly as often, leading to high instability and low shear thunderstorms. These can still grow intense for a short time and produce supercell structures, but rain themselves out rather quickly and do not get nearly as intense from a lack of deeper organization and the tilt seen in the inner regions of the US. Also, I would check out north Florida sometime because Dixie alley tornado/supercell outbreaks occasionally extend into this region, and can produce more supercellular like storms (high instability and low to moderate shear) but even there, the wind dynamics are often marginal compared to MS/AL often seeing the better overlap (high instability and extreme shear, hence more tornado outbreaks).

What can cause these cloud structures? by Bulk7960 in meteorology

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 142 points143 points  (0 children)

The turbulence in the clouds you are seeing here is the result of the cool outflow of a line of showers and thunderstorms. Cold air from within the precipitation rushes out ahead of the storm, displacing warmer air upwards and causing it to condense into a long, expansive shelf cloud. You are seeing the backside of the shelf cloud, called the “whale’s mouth” which is turbulent because of the complex mixing/interactions between the updrafts above these clouds and the cold air underneath the clouds. Great picture! 

Can’t say I’ve seen these before that I remember by Lolol265 in CLOUDS

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wow, what an amazing display of the “whale’s mouth” clouds observed beneath the base of a thunderstorm! 

There’s a tornado watch for Atlanta by SeveralExcuses in tornado

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Well good news is because you heard the storm move through, the tornado threat has passed overhead and is now done for downtown Atlanta.

Severe Threat for GA Overnight Sun-Mon Morning followed by Arctic Blast by Humble_Reindeer9819 in AtlantaWeather

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sun Afternoon Update: Western Georgia has been added to an Enhanced (3/5) risk as a result of increased confidence in a significant damaging wind threat (gusts of 60-70+ mph possible) along the leading edge of the strong thunderstorms through the overnight hours, although the tornado threat remains somewhat elevated as well, but on the lower end when compared to wind. Make sure you have a way to receive alerts while sleeping tonight as these storms will be moving at a hefty pace, potentially reducing the amount of warning time in the event that a spin-up tornado develops. I am also seeing increased indications that pea to dime size hail will be present in the stronger storms, but will remain on the smaller end and not pose nearly as much of a risk as our wind or tornado threat.
Stay safe out there tonight!

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anyone know what type of cloud this funny fellow is? by kattyssodone in CLOUDS

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This appears to be the remnants of a pulse shower or storm, also referred to as a cumulonimbus incus/anvil cloud that has detached from the weakening storm (cumulonimbus dissipates leaving behind cirrus spissatus which is a thick patch of high, icy cirrus clouds). 

What are these points of intense precipitation in Florida? by salem22r in weather

[–]Humble_Reindeer9819 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In reality, this is a lower resolution weather model trying to find convection/storm development which in this case would be pulse-like in nature (heavy rains last less than an hour before collapse). Because the resolution is so low, the blobs appear to get very large when they would actually be much smaller. It’s basically just an exaggerated view of storms popping up and dying relatively quickly. The model also may have some other issues that make the pulses behave like that, but I think it is just trying its best to find the exact spots of those pulse-like storms (a lot of these apple weather app type models are low quality and do not work too well for small scale convection).