Have you ever wondered what all those things are in the sky on a day with thunderstorms? Chief Meteorologist Alan Sealls explains.
The cycle of billowing and blossoming clouds blowing up each day continues in a Gulf Coast summer. It's the water cycle in action. Look for things like updrafts- the sudden upward motion of new cloud cells. As they age they get soft. From tall towers of cumulus clouds you'll often see a shaft of rain. The brightness of the cloud and rain shaft depends on whether the sun is behind you as you look at it, or whether the sun is hidden behind the cloud. Early mornings and late afternoons produce rainbows as the sun shines into the water droplets, and then at any time, larger thunderstorms send a pool of cooler air outward along the ground, known as a gust front, and that often produces a shelf cloud.
