The spectacular ‘Morning Glory’ cloud is coming to Australia
The Morning Glory cloud, a surreal wave-like cloud formation that can stretch over 900kms, has adventurers headed to the north Queensland settlement of Burketown.
The rare meteorological formation is little known, even in Australia, and forms after dawn for about two months every year across the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Garrett Russell, from the Caboolture Gliding Club in Queensland, told News.com.au, “Imagine a huge roll of cotton wool that stretches from one horizon to the other and is moving across the landscape at something like 40 kilometres per hour [25 miles per hour]. There are fewer people who have flown on the morning glory than have climbed Mount Everest... They’re as smooth as silk.”
The unusual cloud roll formation has been known to form in other parts of the world, but not with the same frequency and predictably as around the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Pilots in motorised gliders can spend several hours riding next to the cloud.
“If you’re flying at full speed, with a cloud off to your side, sometimes you might have a wing dipped into the cloud and it reminds me of when you see a surfer put his hand out and cut through the wave,” Mr Russell added.
To see photos of the morning glory cloud, scroll through the gallery above. Have you ever witnessed this spectacular natural phenomenon? Let us know in the comments.
Image credit: Twitter / Vanessa M
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