Arcus Clouds in Sabah & Labuan

Posted by Gfrendz in Gallery, Highlights on June 13, 2012 | 0

For the 1st time in Malaysia, locals in Sabah & Labuan experienced another amazing bit of nature – Arcus clouds.

Date: 12th June, 2012

Time: 0900hrs- 1030hrs

Location: Sabah & LabuanP

hoto sources: Facebook & Twitter

Arcus Clouds: what are they?

Arcus clouds are low, horizontally spread out cloud formations. Arcus clouds contain two different types of cloud – Roll clouds and Shelf clouds.

Roll clouds are long horizontal pipe shaped clouds which lie at a low altitude. Their appearance can be very dominating although they are somewhat rare. Roll clouds indicate a microburst, or strong downdraft of wind, may be happening in the atmosphere. Contrary to popular myth, roll clouds are not capable of causing tornadoes.

kk cloud 4_marina court

Marina court KK kk cloud 5

kk cloud 6 Jalan UMS

kk cloud 8_penampang Penampang

kk cloud 9_tamparuli

Tamparuli kk cloud 10_kolombong kk

Kolombong kk cloud 11_labuan

Labuan kk cloud 12_marina court kk

Arcus Clouds: Where and when do they occur?

Arcus clouds develop at low altitudes of around 6,500 feet, and bring thunderstorms and rain. Although roll clouds are pretty rare, shelf clouds are common in storms among cumulonimbus clouds. Arcus clouds are more common in coastal areas but are not limited to that environment.

Arcus Clouds: How do they form?

arcus clouds

Arcus clouds are formed by a downdraft of cool air in a storm which spreads out to create the horizontal cloud formation due to water condensing. The cloud also forms in part due to wind shear. In extreme cases, an arcus cloud may be large and low enough to reach the ground, bringing strong winds with it.

lee-agnes

The clouds does looks scary yet stunning. Considered that we now at least have witnessed the clouds phenomena happening in Malaysia. It’s somewhat awesome.

Thank you for reading.

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