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’s 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. Let’s try to shed some light on these questions, what are mammatus clouds, what they herald, and how they form.
First, let’s make a definition; What are mammatus clouds?
Also called mammatocumulus, mammatus clouds got their name from the Latin word mamma, meaning breast and chest. Named for their cow udder resemblance, mammatus clouds are a pattern of cellular sacs located at the base of a cloud cluster.
The WMO International Cloud Atlas defines mammatus clouds as a feature of the cloud, not as a special cloud type or type of 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 earliest meteorologists, 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 clouds are caused by rising air, mammatus clouds are the opposite, caused by descending 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 are formed when ice bypasses the liquid form and turns directly into water vapor. 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, heat exchange does not occur in the cloud, but rather coincidentally, a dry and hot cloud and a wet and cold cloud come face to face and short-term mammatus clouds are formed.
According to a different theory, hydrometeor fallout causes cooling in the cloud, and the evaporation or sublimation that occurs during this time descends to form 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 mammatus clouds disappear shortly after they form, 10-15 minutes later, 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. Today, thanks to science, we know what these clouds are, but in the past, 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 era, some scientists have worked on this subject and claimed that there is 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 may indicate a temperature change not only in that cloud cluster but also 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.
We answered questions such as what are mammatus clouds, also known as the breasts of the sky because they resemble cow udders, how they are formed, and what is the harbinger of it. 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.
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