During the summer months, SWFL residents can see some pretty spectacular shelf clouds ahead of a strong thunderstorm or a squall line, and it can be pretty ominous looking in the sky.
So how exactly do they form?
Once the storm begins to rain, cool air sinks with a downdraft and begins to spread out horizontally when reaching the surface. This creates a temperature difference or a front.
The cooler, denser air then forces warmer air near its edges to lift vertically. This air then cools and condenses, creating the shelf cloud.
Shelf clouds are attached to the parent thunderstorm. In some cases, the shelf cloud can propagate forward ahead of the storm and now becomes what is called a roll cloud.
In other cases, the shelf cloud can outlive the thunderstorm and is also called a roll cloud.
The post Weather Blog: How do shelf clouds form? appeared first on NBC2 News.
