Have you ever seen a roll cloud?
A roll cloud is a weather phenomenon that is rare and
requires some very strange and specific atmospheric conditions to occur. It is also called a Morning Glory Cloud,
since the occurrence is almost always in the early morning.
Roll clouds are somewhat common in Australia on the northern
coast near the Gulf of Carpentaria and can occur in multiples, such as is shown
in the picture below, which was taken from an airplane. Arial viewing in best, because the clouds
can stretch for up to 600 miles and are very low to the ground, mostly under
1,000 feet above the surface.
I had the good fortune to see a Morning Glory cloud on a
morning commute between Kansas City and Omaha back in 1982. I’m certain that it
was a one-in-a million chance that I happened upon it.
The roll cloud I saw was straight and stretched completely
across my field of vision from west to east.
It was only a few hundred feet above the ground and was visible from one
horizon to the other. It must have been many miles in length. I wish I could show you a picture of it, but
back in the day we didn’t have digital cameras built in to cell phones and
such.
I count my sighting of a Morning Glory Cloud as one of my
Bucket List goals, even though it was mere happenstance that brought it to
me. I didn’t have to go all the way to
Australia to see it. Maybe you’ll see
one too.
