mammatus clouds. are they for real??

[MrWizard]

They are awesome to see. I fly hot air balloons and we're always on the lookout for these because as cool as they are, they usually mean bad weather. I've never seen them on the east coast...only out west, as the Wiki states.

[jimbo]

wow

those are the best mammatus clouds i have ever seen. I can see why you would suspect them fake. I live in central texas but i grew up in tornado alley (north texas) and have never seen mammatus as well defined as these before.

mammatus form when there is no jet stream in the top of the storm to 'blow' away the top of the thunderstorm so instead of heat rising up intil it meets the jet stream and is blown away, it rises till it is cooled above the freeze line, then falls slowly until it melts, then rises again, acting in a slow micro scale rotation.

an example of more regularly seen mammatus taken a few weeks ago

http://www.entropiaforum.com/gallery...p?i=26444&c=19

[Aveena]

Originally Posted by sob

honestly i think i would freak out if i saw something like that lol

Gotta agree with Sob on this one!!!

[TotalTwist]

Mmmm yummy looking clouds.

Actually at first glance it kinda reminded me of a matress spread. You know the ones that you put over a spring matress to make it softer?

[Asurada]

seriously if i see one...ill just faint or run around screaming my head off