Roll and Rope Clouds Near La Grange

by Connie Fox

Title

Roll and Rope Clouds Near La Grange

Artist

Connie Fox

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Photograph - Outdoor Color Photo

Description

Very rare low-level tube-shaped roll clouds, plus rope clouds below the two or three at the top, stretch across the sky over farmland near LaGrange, Texas, USA. We knew the area well and had never seen anything like it.

It seemed like a normal day in terms of weather. We knew of no unusual weather events in the area--just these huge long clouds that stretched across the sky, as far as the eye could see. We also learned that roll clouds, the larger of these two types, are rarely (or never) seen this far inland. La Grange is well into the Prairie and Lakes region of Texas, bordering the Texas Hill Country.

Research through Wikipedia and other sites leads me to believe the stratocumulonimbus clouds are mostly likely called roll clouds, a type of arcus cloud. The largest one on top fits the description of a classic roll cloud, some of which have been sighted inland but more often appear alone and near the coast. The skinny clouds beneath the top two or three (roll clouds) have been identified as rope clouds. Rope clouds (informal term) are "narrow, long, elongated lines of cumulus cloud formations that develop at the leading edge of an advancing cold front or weather fronts . . .often visible in satellite imagery."

Copyright 2012 Connie Steitz Fox
All Rights Reserved

FEATURED on the homepage of Skyscapes, October 2023.

Uploaded

January 10th, 2012

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