Tornadic cloud captured from Clew Bay may have silver lining

GREY MATTER? Pictured is a formation of Undulatus Asperatus cloud, taken in the Clew Bay area by local photographer Matt Loughrey.

Tornadic clouds captured from Clew Bay may have silver lining


Áine Ryan

IT is not quite as spectacular as the natural phenomenon of Aurora Borealis but a dramatic cloud formation known as Undulatus Asperatus – predominantly seen in the American states of Kansas and North Dakota – has now been seen in north Mayo skies.
Murrisk-based photographer, Matt Loughrey has confirmed to The Mayo News he captured these ‘tornadic and ominous’ looking clouds in late February over the last two years.  
“To see them here is unheard of but I’ve paid close attention to the skies over north Mayo since I first saw them, wondering would they appear again. I took the idea seriously after I got in touch with the Royal Meteorological Society (RMS). Since this cloud type received some wider attention they have been requesting the data  in order to better build a scientific picture of why they are forming,” says Matt Loughrey.
“To be out in the middle of an estuary at low tide and have these clouds form in under ten minutes overhead is a very surreal experience. They look tornadic and ominous. Indeed, the RMS got back to me earlier to confirm that these were indeed once again, Undulatus Asperatus, same time of year, same location and similar conditions. They were itching to get hold of the data,” he continues.
His photographs will now be included in the International Cloud Atlas, which is being presently reviewed.
Matt Loughrey adds: “In the US plains states such formations are viewed as a sign of pre-tornadic conditions. Fortunately, we don’t have the warm winds to make that happen here.”
Experts say that the clouds are not a phenomenon of climate change and have been round for a long time but just captured more regularly because of the huge increase in amateur photography. They are often formed when a storm is nearby with high-level winds shaping vapour into the waves and swirls.
In 2009 the Cloud Appreciation Society (CAS) lobbied to have this formation recognised as a ‘completely new cloud type’ after Jane Wiggins from Cedar Rapids in Iowa took a photograph of this striking formation in 2006, which then went viral.
Undulatus Asperatus is loosely translated as ‘roughened waves’.
If it is classified, it will be the first cloud formation added since Cirrus Intortus in 1951 to the International Cloud Atlas of the World Meteorological Organisation.