What are Mammatus Clouds, What Are They Foreshadowing?

When we look up and look at the sky, we often see countless clouds. While these sometimes completely cover the sky, sometimes they can form interesting shapes. You can even play games based on what these shapes look like. But when you see mammatus clouds We are sure that only one shape will come to your mind because even the name of mammatus clouds comes from the cow udder.

Mammatus clouds are clusters of clouds that appear to hang down in the sky. Although not often, they can appear in many different parts of the world. Of course, like all extraordinary natural events, they are associated with disasters, but when we examine scientific data, we see that they are actually simple natural events. What are mammatus clouds, what are they foreshadowing, how are they formed? Let’s try to shed some light on these questions.

First, let’s make a definition; What are mammatus clouds?

mammatus clouds, also called mammatocumulus, It got its name from the Latin word mamma, meaning breast or breast. Named for their cow udder resemblance, mammatus clouds are a pattern of cellular sacs located at the base of a cloud cluster.

WMO International Cloud Atlas, mammatus clouds not as a specific cloud type or cloud type defines it as a property of the cloud. Although it can be seen in different cloud types, mammatus clouds are generally seen in a type of rain cloud called cumulonimbus.

Mammatus clouds were first discovered in 1894 by one of the oldest meteorologists. It was discovered by the Englishman William Clement Ley. The clearly visible nodular lower parts of these clouds are formed by the effect of cold air descending to form pockets in the rising clouds with the effect of hot air.

So how do these unusually shaped mammatus clouds form?

While most of the clouds are caused by rising air, mammatus clouds are the opposite. they arise as a result of lowering or sinking air. This is also the reason why they form in cumulonimbus clouds, because the inside of such clouds is quite chaotic, and therefore the pieces of air inside are heated at different rates. The result is mammatus clouds.

To make a more scientific definition, mammatus clouds, It is formed by the conversion of ice directly into water vapor, bypassing the liquid form. The ice crystals in the cloud cluster begin to evaporate directly without liquefying with a chaotic heating and cool the surrounding air. The colder and denser air also descends, forming sacs at the base of the cloud.

There are also different scientific theories about mammatus clouds:

We said that mammatus clouds are formed due to the heat exchange within the cloud cluster, but some scientists have different theories about the formation process. For example, according to one theory, the heat exchange does not occur in the cloud, it happens very randomly. dry and hot cloud meets wet and cold cloud and short-lived mammatus clouds form.

According to a different theory, hydrometeor fallout causes cooling in the cloud, and by evaporation or sublimation forming nodules under the cloud. If the cloud is very cold and only its base has somehow warmed up and started to melt, it is possible to encounter short-term mammatus clouds.

One uncommon theory is that gravitational waves may be what creates mammatus clouds. But this theory does not explain prevalence, time, and scale of size. Kelvin – Helmholtz (K – H) instability, which describes fluid and velocity instability, is another theory that is thought to form mammatus clouds, but the lumps formed in such clouds are not very meaningful as they occur stably.

You can also see; Where do mammatus clouds occur?

We’ve seen that for mammatus clouds to form, there must be quite a complex heat exchange. So where does this complex heat exchange take place? Of course, in the coastal areas of the oceans and seas. For this reason, it is possible to encounter mammatus clouds in coastal areas almost all over the world, including our country.

But there is an interesting detail about these unusually shaped clouds. This complex heat exchange within the cloud cluster has such rapid effects that shortly after mammatus clouds form, 10 – 15 minutes, then it disappears and the cloud cluster regains its former shape. Precisely for this reason, it was thought that there was a relationship between mammatus clouds and disasters in the period when science was not developing.

A thousand dollars of superstition; What do mammatus clouds herald?

Mammatus clouds are not a cloud shape that we are used to as humanity. Thanks to science today we know what these clouds are but in the past, In the times when science was not very developed, it was believed that mammatus clouds heralded disasters such as earthquakes.

Indian scholar Brihat Samhita mentions that he established a relationship between mammatus clouds and earthquakes in the 500s. Even In the modern period, some scientists have done studies on this subject. and they claimed to be in a relationship. Apart from a few coincidences, there is no proven scientific data that there is a relationship between mammatus clouds and neither earthquake nor any other natural disaster.

Well, the clouds have become memes, if you say there is a meaning to it, of course there is. The heat exchange that creates mammatus clouds it may indicate a temperature change not only in that cloud cluster but in the air in general. Therefore, after such a cloud formation, a storm, heavy rain or similar weather may be seen. But we cannot call them disasters.

Is there a connection between the weather and disasters?

In ancient times, many people tried to establish some kind of connection between the weather and disasters. Today, there are scientists working on it. Yes, sometimes the weather may show a different formation before an earthquake or similar disaster. But in order to prove scientific accuracy, indisputable evidence must emerge. For this reason, it would not be right to talk about a definite relationship between weather conditions and natural disasters for now.

Also known as the breasts of the sky because it resembles a cow’s udder. What are mammatus clouds, how are they formed, what are they foreshadowing? We answered frequently asked questions such as: Maybe it had a meaning in the past, but today, thanks to the developing technology, even the minute-to-minute weather can be detected, but such catastrophic beliefs without a scientific basis are not quite true.