As a recent graduate from Florida State University’s Meteorology program, with no real experience in the field, signing on to the MC3E campaign hit me as a no-brainer! Upon arriving for what will be my month-long stay here in Chanute, Kansas, I was greeted by rolling plains, friendly residents, and clear skies, at the time. Raised in a beach community in Jacksonville, Florida, my experience with severe weather was lacking, to say the least. Granted, I have had some run-ins with hurricanes, fronts, and severe thunderstorms, I have never seen anything that has blown my mind. Because of this, the mathematic, dynamic, and overall understanding of the processes taking place within a thunderstorm, low-pressure system, or any other atmospheric disturbance was of more interest to me than being in the middle of a storm and experiencing it first-hand. However, only halfway through my time here, I have a new respect and interest in severe weather that I had previously thought I would never have.
As a recent graduate from Florida State University’s Meteorology program, with no real experience in the fieldA great thing about shift work is the days off you get with it. So on a day off, I decided to see a friend in Kansas City and also visit Worlds of Fun, an amusement park. Upon getting a great deal as a student at the park, and getting to ride virtually every ride twice with no lines, I felt my trip was well worthwhile. Little did I know what I was about to get to see as well! Upon grabbing a coffee the next morning on my drive back, I was greeted by these clouds with wave-like structures, which I was absolutely fascinated with, as I thought maybe they were the result of a gravity/buoyancy wave. I was later told they are the result of intense shear above.
Soon after these clouds had arrived, they were swept away by strong winds aloft, and off in the distance I could see what I thought was an approaching wall cloud, but later found was a shelf cloud. This was the real icing on the cake as I had never seen any thing even close to this, other than in the movie Independence Day when the alien ships are breaking through our atmosphere! These clouds are associated with gust fronts, created by a downdraft, which you can really hear come through on the video posted below. The only two explanations I found for the cloud being a turquoise-like color was wavelength scattering due to hail, which the storm did produce, or the reflection of light off forested or green areas below the clouds.
Matthew Dawson is a recent graduate from Florida State who is launching radiosondes from our site in Chanute, Kansas.