Photography: Tidal Basin Storm Clouds
A shelf or roll cloud associated with a thunderstorm Monday night moves quickly north of D.C.
The cold front that blasted through the D.C. area Monday night was accompanied by some scattered, fast-moving thunderstorms. The above photo, which I took from the Jefferson Memorial, shows a shelf or roll cloud associated with a thunderstorm that raced just north of D.C. There was lightning, but it was mostly obscured by the low clouds.
Keep reading for a sequence of photos, each taken roughly 30 seconds apart. Also, see our full forecast through the weekend.
The edge of the shelf or roll cloud begins to move over the Washington Monument, catching the light from the monument's spotlights.
The light from the Washington Monument's spotlights cast a beam under the edge of the thunderstorm clouds.
The fast-moving shelf or roll cloud is moving past the Tidal Basin, giving the northern parts of D.C. a glancing blow. This photo was taken 90 seconds after the first photo in this post.
By Kevin Ambrose |
June 19, 2008; 7:15 PM ET
Photography
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Posted by: mcleaNed | June 19, 2008 8:13 PM
Those storm spots on the radar from Woodbridge south are making me nervous - I've got nothing but felt on my roof overnight. What are the chances we get any of this activity in Alexandria?
Posted by: Huntington Mark | June 19, 2008 9:31 PM
There's a big difference between a shelf cloud and a roll cloud. Shelfs are more common, and are generally shaped like a dark gray wedge that sticks out like a plow out ahead of the underside of the front storm. This cloud marks the boundary of the storm's strong, advancing downdraft (where some of the strongest surface winds are found outside of microbursts and tornadoes). It is usually a distinctive shape, but sometimes hidden by fog or other clouds in front of it...and then the wind and rain can take you by suprise. often there is intense lightning visible under it, and if the underpart takes a bluish-green hue, you've got a real storm.....maybe with large hail.
A roll cloud, on the other hand, unlke a shelf cloud, is generally detached from the storm's main clouds above it, narrower, horizontal, and sometimes spins, leading untrained or unskilled observers to assume (falsely) that it is a sideways, horizontal tornado. Its cause, and the mechanism that sustains it, are unclear.
Posted by: Mike | June 19, 2008 10:25 PM
AMAZING pictures!!!
Posted by: weatherdudeVA (Lake Ridge) | June 19, 2008 10:41 PM
Kevin--Your Nation's Capital weather photos are one of the top things about this site.
Posted by: Susan in Chevy Chase DC | June 20, 2008 8:14 AM
Thanks for the comments. I think it was some form of shelf cloud, but what made it a bit odd was that it rushed forward quickly from the northwest, then retreated back to the northeast, without ever going overhead.
Posted by: Kevin, Capital Weather Gang | June 20, 2008 8:52 AM
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Beautiful pictures!