Although walking on the clouds seems like a fun idea, we can easily say that as a result of such an attempt, you will quickly fall down and get a little wet in the process. But if you fall through a cumulonimbus cloud, the situation becomes even more dramatic.
Cumulonimbus clouds may be the most dangerous clouds. Characterized by towering pillars of turbulent cloud layers, these menacing water vapor formations are the only formations known to produce thunder, lightning, and hail, and they certainly look fit for the role. While most clouds don’t even reach 2,000 meters, cumulonimbus clouds can rise up to 20,000 meters, forming a giant anvil shape.
Lieutenant Colonel William Rankin is known as one of two people who fell through a storm cloud and lived to tell his story. His story can be cited as a remarkable but terrifying example of what happens when you’re stuck in a cloud.
Being stuck in a cloud…
Lieutenant Colonel William Rankin and his co-pilot Herbert Nolan were flying towards South Carolina in an F-8 Crusader jet on July 26, 1959. They were aware of the large storm clouds ahead, so they took precautions and climbed to a height of about 14,300 meters, keeping some distance above the top of the clouds.
But while he was above the storm, Rankin’s engine suddenly suffered an inexplicable malfunction and stalled. Without a pressure suit, Rankin wasn’t keen on venturing into temperatures of -50°C and air with too little oxygen to breathe, but as his clock ticked 6 PM he realized he had no other choice. At 14,300 metres, he pulled his throwing arm, losing his glove, and bracing himself for frightening external conditions.
He suddenly lost the pressure of his sheltered capsule and was replaced by external pressure, and his stomach began to swell, and blood immediately began to flow from his eyes and ears. He had lost his glove during the launch, and his hand began to freeze in the cold outside, adding just one more to the list of life-threatening problems.
Rankin was now entering a cumulonimbus cloud with only emergency oxygen and a parachute not designed for use in the middle of a storm. Rankin had not yet pulled the parachute rope, knowing full well that it could result in death. He installed a barometer that automatically released the parachute when it reached an altitude of about 3,048 meters, and hoped it would emerge from the storm before it suffocated or froze.
Parachute makes things difficult
Rankin remained in the clouds for what seemed like a century, to be swept away by the violent updrafts that created such extreme weather conditions. Scientists know very little about the inner workings of these fierce storm clouds, but the rising hot air was strong enough to toss it around, as hailstones and lightning threatening to end its life.
His parachute soon opened, causing Rankin to believe he was at 3,048 meters, but that estimate was not correct. The situation he was in had triggered the pressure barometer, causing Rankin to rise directly as he mounted his updraft parachute. It rose and fell again and again due to the updrafts as it escaped the shards of ice and held its breath as the air was so full of water that it could suffocate.
Fortunately, the storm eventually freed him and he drifted down until he hit a tree, hitting his head against the trunk of the tree as he fell from the branches. She looked at her watch and realized that it was 6:40 p.m., meaning she had been in the cloud for about 40 minutes. Rankin managed to find help nearby and was relatively unscathed while reaching the hospital with frostbite, decompression injuries and other minor injuries.
Rankin died almost 50 years later, in 2009, at the age of 88. He returned to service after the accident and wrote the book “The Man Who Rode The Thunder”.
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