wall cloud


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Related to wall cloud: Shelf cloud

wall cloud

n.
A rapidly rotating, disk-shaped cloud with sloped sides, usually from 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) to 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter, descending from a cumulonimbus cloud associated with a powerful thunderstorm. Tornadoes typically form beneath wall clouds.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Storm spotters will look for a low, rain-free cloud base around that area, which is called a wall cloud. If this cloud is rotating, it's possible a tornado may be produced.
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An ominous looking orange-brown wall cloud filled the western horizon.
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The chaser, air- or ground-borne, intercepts the storm after the wall cloud, the rain, hail and massive winds have passed.
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"It was about two miles south of Highway 98 when I saw the wall cloud front of me."
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Those in the audience learned what to look for in a rare supercell thunderstorm like the one that spawned last June's tornado, which usually features a wall cloud, which can produce a tornado, and a shelf cloud that precedes a squall line like the one that scared people in town a week later.
Reporters of the storm convene; Program trains weather spotters on severe conditions
By the time I climbed into the camper, a wall cloud was fast approaching.
Tri-state Turkey triple: An unscripted road trip turns out 'better than a dream'

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