Rain-soaked grasslands and cumulonimbus mammatus frame a rainbow. Mammati are high level cloud formations dangling from beneath the anvil canopy of some thunderstorms, and sometimes, not caused by a thunderstorm at all. They are harmless and do not produce funnel clouds or tornadoes. Scenes like this are what make storm watching on the Great Plains so rewarding—even when there is no severe weather. After a wonderful experience immersing in this place, I headed east a short way, caught the darker rainbow with mammatus and a fabulous sunset, courtesy of dryline storms that produced occasional hail and a wall cloud earlier in the afternoon. Windmills such as the one shown here are common on the High Plains, using the resource the plains have most—wind—to power pumps which draw a finite resource the plains need most—water—from the underlying Ogallala Aquifer.
7 E Hardesty OK (29 Jun 97) Looking SSE
36.6164, -101.0705
High Plains Mammatus
Rain-soaked grasslands and cumulonimbus mammatus frame a rainbow. Mammati are high level cloud formations dangling from beneath the anvil canopy of some thunderstorms, and sometimes, not caused by a thunderstorm at all. They are harmless and do not produce funnel clouds or tornadoes. Scenes like this are what make storm watching on the Great Plains so rewarding—even when there is no severe weather. After a wonderful experience immersing in this place, I headed east a short way, caught the darker rainbow with mammatus and a fabulous sunset, courtesy of dryline storms that produced occasional hail and a wall cloud earlier in the afternoon. Windmills such as the one shown here are common on the High Plains, using the resource the plains have most—wind—to power pumps which draw a finite resource the plains need most—water—from the underlying Ogallala Aquifer.
7 E Hardesty OK (29 Jun 97) Looking SSE
36.6164, -101.0705