This fascinating image, captured by the Suomi NPP weather satellite, showcases an extremely unusual thunderstorm cloud, resembling a jellyfish, floating above western Africa. The oddly shaped cloud, stretching approximately 185 miles (300 kilometers) in length, was spotted above central Mali. Its ‘bell’ hovered over the city of Mopti, while its ‘tentacles’ extended into Burkina Faso.
This bizarre cloud formation is attributed to a meteorological phenomenon known as an outflow boundary, essentially a shock wave of fast-moving air emanating from thunderstorm clouds. When cold air from the clouds descends towards the surface, it rapidly expands outward like ripples in a pond, forcing warmer air upward. This movement creates an arc-shaped line of clouds, often resembling an anvil from the ground. However, in this instance, only a partial disk formed as the outflow boundary was disrupted by wind shear.
In arid regions, outflow boundaries can sweep up dust and sand, resulting in short-lived walls of particulates known as haboobs. These dust storms typically appear suddenly after thunderstorms and can significantly reduce visibility and air quality. Outflow boundaries are also known to carry other objects, including insects, seeds, and even birds, which can show up as dense rings in radar images captured by weather satellites.