Terrifying moment vast cloud threatened to engulf whole street
Last updated at 3:05 PM on 4th August 2011
This is the terrifying moment a cloud threatened to develop in to a full blown tornado and engulf a whole row of family houses.
Brave photographer Pat Kavanagh took this shot of an explosive black storm from the roof of his house in Taber in Alberta, Canada, last month.
Expecting the sunny weather to take a turn for the worst, he watched intently as the billows started spinning into a furious funnel.
This cloud was captured by Pat Kavanagh from the roof of his house in Taber, Canada
The image was taken in Taber, Canada
WHY ARE STORM CLOUDS DARK?
Storms are created when a centre of low pressure develops, with a system of high pressure surrounding it.
This combination of opposing forces can create winds and result in the formation of storm clouds, such as 'cumulonimbus'.
When clouds are white, that means the water droplets in the cloud are tiny and very close together.
This format tends to reflect most of the light that hits it, making the cloud appear white.
As time goes on, the tiny droplets gather together into bigger droplets (the cloud is getting ready to rain).
The bigger droplets are farther apart. This format allows light to penetrate farther into the cloud. More light is absorbed by the cloud instead of reflected, so it appears darker.
The father-of-three said: 'It was a nice evening and the sun was shining when I suddenly heard claps of thunder, which was strange.
'My wife went to look out the front door and saw the clouds blowing up from the south.
'I took one look and headed back into the house to get my camera.
'We watched the storm for a few minutes when I noticed that the cloud was starting to spin.
'I got my ladder and climbed up on my roof to get a better view.
'It never got the momentum to create a tornado, but it did look like it was going to happen before out eyes.
'We watched for 45 minutes as it slowly moved back into cloud formation.'
Tornadoes are very unusual in Taber, so this picture, taken on July 17, was a once-in-a-lifetime sighting for the Human Resource manager.
He added: 'Our area of the country seldom sees Tornadoes so this was a rare sight indeed and with the rainbow underneath it, made it even more special to see.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2022380/Terrifying-moment-vast-cloud-threatened-engulf-street.html#ixzz1U4LPOCYx
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