Magnificent roll clouds caught on webcam over Florida's east coast
Weather enthusiast Adrian Linares was watching his webcam in Lake Worth, Florida, on Tuesday morning when something unusual happened: Three roll clouds moved over his house.
Roll clouds mark a sharp temperature contrast where warm air moves up over shallow cold air, continually reforming water vapor in the same place, like a lenticular cloud. Since temperature boundaries move while the moisture boundaries of a lenticular cloud do not, the roll cloud can move along the atmosphere as the boundary moves downstream.
A roll cloud over the fleet onboard MAPFRE during the start of Leg 7 from Newport, Rhode Island, to Lisbon on May 17, 2015 in Newport, Rhode Island. (Photo by Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race via Getty Images)
Roll clouds often come in groups of two or three. Catch the rare clouds at the so-called golden hour, and the results can be stunning, as storm chaser Bill Hark found out in 2018 in Richmond, Virginia.
A roll cloud, lit by the sunrise in Richmond, Virginia, on Feb. 5, 2018. (Bill Hark)
Roll clouds are officially known as Volutus clouds and form in a fashion similar to the shelf cloud that precedes a thunderstorm, but is not attached to a thunderstorm, and in fact, most often occurs in fair weather.
One of the most common places to see a roll cloud is at the beach. In the Gulf of Carpentaria region of northeastern Australia, where roll clouds occur regularly, they are known as a morning glory. Roll clouds can also give shape to a gravity wave in the atmosphere causing rising and falling air, known scientifically as an undular bore.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
13 hours ago
- New York Post
New Yorkers sweating ‘everywhere' inside most punishing subway stop during heat wave: ‘No air in here'
New Yorkers were 'sweating from everywhere' in Manhattan's most punishing subway station during the Big Apple's heat wave Monday — and the worst is yet to come. Temperatures clocked in at 100 degrees on the dot at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall subway station, according to a thermometer brought underground by The Post — as suffering residents looked for any relief at the start of a miserably hot week. 'You're sweating from everywhere,' Abby Figueroa, 44, said inside the station. 'Not just your pits, everywhere.' 6 Temperatures clocked in at 100 degrees on the dot at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall subway station. Michael Nagle The customer service rep from the Bronx said other train stations were actually cooler than outside on the sidewalk, but not the lower Manhattan station. Outside temperatures were only slightly better at 95 degrees as of 5 p.m. Monday. 'It's Africa down here! I've been to South Africa with my church, it's Africa down here,' Figueroa said inside the station. An uptown 6 train conductor, Calvin, also told The Post the Brooklyn Bridge stop is a real scorcher compared to other stations, blaming poor ventilation. 6 Outside temperatures were only slightly better at 95 degrees as of 5 p.m. Monday. Gregory P. Mango 'What's the hottest station in the system? This stop's the hottest,' he said. 'They got no air in here.' Meanwhile Lisa Ferra, 49, was suffering along with her 7-year-old grandson Jordan. 'I thought it would be a little cooler down here. I feel like I'm in an oven,' Ferra said. 'I'm just gonna stay home tomorrow with the air conditioning on.' 6 'What's the hottest station in the system? This stop's the hottest,' Calvin said. 'They got no air in here.' Emmy Park for A 26-year-old subway performer from Crown Heights also condemned the Brooklyn Bridge station for its hellish conditions. 'This is the worst. 42nd Street [station] is the best, Grand Central the AC is coming right out of the vents,' Ray said. 'I'm going right there. I'm going there now.' Elsewhere, city dwellers were doing their best to stay cool in the oppressive heat. 6 A 26-year-old subway performer from Crown Heights also condemned the Brooklyn Bridge station for its hellish conditions. Matthew McDermott Monika Monika, a content creator and model, took off her shirt while taking a shower on the Coney Island boardwalk. 'What am I doing to keep cool? Taking off as much clothes as possible,' the 32-year-old Coney Island resident proclaimed. 'Enjoying the rights and freedoms that America offers a woman like me in 2025 where I can freely walk around topless.' 6 Monika Monika, a content creator and model, took off her shirt while taking a shower on the Coney Island boardwalk. Bloomberg via Getty Images She said she was embracing her 'youth and beauty.' 'I'm skinny. I need the heat,' Monika said. 'I have no body fat to keep me covered so I need the heat.' Flatbush resident Jayda Jones, 23, and her daughter were lying under a pink umbrella on the Brooklyn beach for some relief, but had to hold their nose as some people walked by. 6 'I'm skinny. I need the heat,' Monika said. 'I have no body fat to keep me covered so I need the heat.' James Messerschmidt 'It's extremely hot. Hotter than usual but it's bearable under this umbrella. I'm drinking my Gatorade, my water,' she said, adding. 'Honestly I smelled a couple musty people out here, but that's on them not me.' Temperatures could be slightly hotter Tuesday, almost reaching 100 degrees and in the mid-90s on Wednesday before the weather cools down a bit the rest of the week.
National Geographic
15 hours ago
- National Geographic
You're not imagining it. Humidity really has gotten worse in the last 40 years.
The sun rises behind the skyline of midtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building in New York City. This summer's high humidity is expected to be even worse in urban areas. Photograph by Gary Hershorn, Getty Images As temperatures rise across the U.S., here's what you need to know about high humidity and how it can affect you. The first major heat wave of summer has enveloped much of the midwestern and eastern U.S. in a brutal 'dome' of record temperatures and high humidity. The dome phenomenon happens when weather conditions cause high pressure to remain stagnant, trapping bands of heat and humidity within a region for long periods of time. Experts warn that heat-related illness, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke, pose significant risks over the coming days. It's no surprise that summer's high temperatures bring with them oppressively high humidity, but what causes these muggy conditions and why does they make us feel so much hotter? Humidity happens when water vapor in the atmosphere enters the air through the evaporation of water at the surface. When the temperatures rise in the summer months, more water evaporates than in the winter months when it's colder outside. 'The greater amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, the more humid it is,' says James Marshall Shepherd, director of the University of Georgia's Atmospheric Sciences Program. In regions of the country that are generally wetter, like the eastern U.S., there's more water on the surface to evaporate, resulting in more humidity. Summertime weather patterns out of the gulf region caused by warm water temperatures and prevailing wind patterns lead to an additional flow of moisture coming from the south that can add to steamy conditions. Why does humidity make you feel so bad? When your body heats up, a region of the brain called the hypothalamus sends a signal to your sweat glands that it's time to cool down. Sweating is the body's primary mechanism for reducing its internal temperature. When you sweat, your body evaporates water from your skin, absorbing energy in the process and thereby reducing heat. Sweating is the body's primary method for regulating heat and can be less effective when humidity levels are too high. Illustration by Asklepios Medical Atlas, Science Source 'The amount of water that can be evaporated from your skin depends on how much water vapor is already in the air,' says Mary D. Lemcke-Stampone, the New Hampshire State climatologist and an associate professor of geography at the University of New Hampshire. With high humidity comes higher relative humidity: the ratio of how much water vapor is in the air compared to how much water vapor the air can hold before reaching condensation and precipitation. Too much water vapor or humidity in the air means there's no room for sweat to evaporate from your skin. In other words, you might sweat, but the sweat doesn't have anywhere to go. In dry heat conditions like the desert, on the other hand, your body doesn't feel as hot because evaporation takes the water—and as a result, heat—off the skin's surface. What is the 'wet bulb effect'? The term 'wet bulb effect' or 'wet bulb temperature' refers to how effectively the body can cool down in high heat and high humidity conditions. Specifically, it's the lowest your body temperature can go as a result of sweating. When heat and humidity are too high, humans can't properly cool themselves. This causes the body to overheat, which can lead to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Around 95°F combined with high humidity is considered the limit for human survival, but even much lower temperatures of 88°F can be dangerous. 'When you're not cooling off as fast, then you're going to feel those symptoms of heat stress more than if your body was able to cool through its normal mechanisms,' says Lemcke-Stampone. Some of these symptoms include fatigue and nausea. The amount of water the air holds depends on its temperature, and as air warms, its relative humidity drops. Experts contend that the climate is changing and the atmosphere is on average getting warmer, resulting in an increase in humidity. A February 2025 study found that over the last 40 years, humid heat waves have increased in severity, especially across the eastern U.S., amplifying heat waves and increasingly putting people at risk. Additionally, the higher the heat, the more water is evaporated from lakes, streams, and other bodies of water, which adds more humidity to the air. Still, one of the most insidious aspects of a high humidity heat wave is that the heat doesn't break at night, especially in cities which are covered in asphalt and concrete that trap warmth instead of absorbing it. Heat swells in urban areas, radiating into the night and building on itself the next day. So even though the temperature may be a bit lower in the evening, the body doesn't get a respite from the heat, says Allegra N. LeGrande, a climate scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies & Center for Climate Systems Research. 'High nighttime temperatures are absolutely a facet of climate change,' says LeGrande. As humidity gets worse, it comes with the added risk of over exposure. High heat means that many of us will need to have a plan in place when the weather becomes extreme. Relying on air conditioning may not be enough. Be prepared by staying hydrated, and keeping ice and fans on hand, which increase windspeed around your body and help reduce your internal temperature, says LeGrande. A cold shower can help to cool your body down in a pinch because water traveling through underground pipes will be cooler than water on the surface, such as in pools and lakes. Know beforehand where your city's cooling centers are in case you don't have air conditioning, it stops working, or your area's electrical grid reaches capacity and the power goes out. It's not just society's most vulnerable, like the elderly and those with chronic conditions, who are at risk for heat-related illnesses. New research shows that younger people are increasingly being stretched to their physical limits due to the heat, potentially because they're more likely to work outdoors in these temperatures. 'Make sure you're checking in with friends, family, and neighbors—even those who you might not expect to be impacted,' says LeGrande.
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
NY primary falling on hottest day of heat wave could be bad news for Cuomo
The heat wave could be good news for far lefties and bad news for ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The 102 degree scorcher expected for Tuesday's primaries is likely to help far lefties such as socialist NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani while hurting Cuomo, the frontrunner to win the Democratic mayoral nomination who is appealing to more moderate voters, political pundits told The Post. 'It's very likely the heat will lower turnout on Tuesday — especially if the city is in a heat emergency — [and that] will be bad news for any campaign relying on Election Day turnout, which has previously been older and more moderate,' said Jon Paul Lupo, a longtime Democratic consultant and former top aide for ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio. 'But we're seeing historic levels of early vote — some voters are getting the message and voting early to avoid the heat.' Cuomo campaign spokesman Jason Elan insisted oppressive heat won't stop the former governor's supporters from showing up at the polls. The NYC primary falls on the hottest day of the upcoming four-day heat wave. Michael Nagle 'While we encourage people to vote early to beat the heat, we expect high turnout on Election Day because New Yorkers are excited to cast their ballots for Andrew Cuomo,' Elan said. Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill Saturday allowing primary voters to be given refreshments as they wait on line to cast their ballots. 'Our democracy works best when every eligible voter has a chance to cast their ballot,' Hochul said. 'Providing water to voters waiting in line is a common-sense way to ensure New Yorkers have an easy, safe and secure experience in the voting booth. I'm committing to protecting the right to vote for all eligible New Yorkers.' Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill allowing primary voters to be given refreshments as they wait on line. Getty Images The new bill repeals a law that prohibited voters from receiving food, water and other refreshments at polling sites. Hochul, however, urged New Yorkers to vote early and beat the heat. 'The No.1 cause of weather-related death is extreme heat, but preparation, communication and other precautions can save lives,' Hochul said in a statement. 'That is why we are deploying a whole of government approach to keep New Yorkers safe, working to protect our most vulnerable populations, and encouraging voters to take advantage of early voting ahead of the June 24 Primary Election Day.'
