Time Lapse Video of Altocumulus with Virga

July 14th, 2020 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.

I’ve always wanted to capture this kind of cloud as a time lapse. I noticed them on my way to work this morning, and had a camera and tripod with me, so this was my chance.

These are altocumulus clouds with strong upward motion in them producing precipitation, in this case snow, falling in streaks and not reaching the ground (“virga”). They form when the upper troposphere is unstable, and warm advection (a warm air mass moving into a cool air mass) produces the uplift.


119 Responses to “Time Lapse Video of Altocumulus with Virga”

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