Wall Cloud at Sunset
No scan, no slide, no video can do justice to the brilliance of the scene that the sky gave us for a few minutes one late May afternoon outside Childress. A mesocyclone formed along the intersection of an outflow boundary with the leading edge of a short line of thunderstorms. Though the mesocyclone would be undercut fast by cold outflow, it peaked right at sunset. The result: Brilliant golden rain shafts wrapping around a wall cloud cast orange by the sun's setting rays, copper tones tinting the shadows, while pink scud raced overhead beneath the gray-blue patches of the inner storm clouds. No tornado? So what!
3 WNW Childress TX (2 May 1) Looking SW
(GPS)
