What had been, in effect, a horizontal funnel (Part 1), attached to the middle chunk of cumuliform cloud, split off to become an independent “horseshoe vortex“, with enough form and rotation to maintain its condensation and visual character for a few more minutes. The sunset coloration on these lower clouds made them stand out nicely against the sky (whose blue was darkened by my deliberate exposure for the clouds), and the still off-white background of high anvil clouds from the storm complex that had dropped hail here.
3 SSE Yuma CO (21 Jun 10) Looking up
40.0833, -102.70Horseshoe Vortex Splitting Away: Part 2
What had been, in effect, a horizontal funnel (Part 1), attached to the middle chunk of cumuliform cloud, split off to become an independent “horseshoe vortex“, with enough form and rotation to maintain its condensation and visual character for a few more minutes. The sunset coloration on these lower clouds made them stand out nicely against the sky (whose blue was darkened by my deliberate exposure for the clouds), and the still off-white background of high anvil clouds from the storm complex that had dropped hail here.
3 SSE Yuma CO (21 Jun 10) Looking up
40.0833, -102.70