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Mammatus Clouds over Nebraska

Explanation: When do cloud bottoms appear like bubbles? Normally, cloud bottoms are flat. This is because moist warm air that rises and cools will condense into water droplets at a specific temperature, which usually corresponds to a very specific height. As water droplets grow, an opaque cloud forms. Under some conditions, however, cloud pockets can develop that contain large droplets of water or ice that fall into clear air as they evaporate. Such pockets may occur in turbulent air near a thunderstorm. Resulting mammatus clouds can appear especially dramatic if sunlit from the side. The mammatus clouds pictured here were photographed over Hastings, Nebraska during 2004 June.

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This APOD has a stark austere artistic quality, and with those seeming out-of-this-world (but not really) mammatus clouds gathering (ominously?) over a timeless sort of building, the whole scene is dreamlike. Who lives here? Who walks these streets?



The Nighthawks? The Simpsons?


No, more likely Edwin Perkins , or at least he used to live there - or he used to live nearby anyway!

Okay, but where did those clouds, which are really no evidence of aliens or mysterious dimensions at all, get that name? Mammatus clouds?

Wellll... they got their name because they seem to possess a defining characteristic shared by a lot of higher life forms on the Earth: humans, dogs, cows, badgers, bats, whales and elephants for example, but not birds, sharks or crocodiles. If you don't know what I mean, please enjoy this video of a Mama cat using specific parts of her body to suckle her kittens!



Oh, and no... those mammatus clouds are not likely to bring us any milk. More likely a lot of rain! 🌧🌧🌧

Ann

I remember this photo from a while back with the Mammatus clouds over the Hastings campus! I know we talked of it back then also! A good photo of the clouds!

They resemble the udders of mammals, including man.

After my mind marveled over seeing the clouds, another thought made me think; What kind of building is that? It reminds me it could look like a train or bus depot, with the trains pulling in on the other side of the long wall. But then the huge parking lot in the middle of the day with not a single car parked there (Except maybe the photographer) seems kind of eerie for a train or bus depot.

De58te wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:10 pm After my mind marveled over seeing the clouds, another thought made me think; What kind of building is that? It reminds me it could look like a train or bus depot, with the trains pulling in on the other side of the long wall. But then the huge parking lot in the middle of the day with not a single car parked there (Except maybe the photographer) seems kind of eerie for a train or bus depot.

I, too, thought that the building was a bit spooky.

Ann

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:18 pm

De58te wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:10 pm After my mind marveled over seeing the clouds, another thought made me think; What kind of building is that? It reminds me it could look like a train or bus depot, with the trains pulling in on the other side of the long wall. But then the huge parking lot in the middle of the day with not a single car parked there (Except maybe the photographer) seems kind of eerie for a train or bus depot.

I, too, thought that the building was a bit spooky.

Ann

I like map puzzles! It's the Lynn Farrell Arena at Hastings College:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5970813 ... 384!8i8192

Well, that link to the street view seems to be borked, but it looks like this:


And here's the map view - https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5965508 ... a=!3m1!1e3

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:29 pm I like map puzzles! It's the Lynn Farrell Arena at Hastings College:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5970813 ... 384!8i8192

Well, that link to the street view seems to be borked, but it looks like this:


lynn farrell arena at hastings college nebraska.png


And here's the map view - https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5965508 ... a=!3m1!1e3

I think it's more likely the football stadium at Lloyd Wilson Field.
Here's a view from the inside. Notice the lighting. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lloyd ... x1pm?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lloyd ... x1pm?hl=en

bystander wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 5:30 pm

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:29 pm I like map puzzles! It's the Lynn Farrell Arena at Hastings College:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5970813 ... 384!8i8192

Well, that link to the street view seems to be borked, but it looks like this:


lynn farrell arena at hastings college nebraska.png


And here's the map view - https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5965508 ... a=!3m1!1e3

I think it's more likely the football stadium at Lloyd Wilson Field.
Here's a view from the inside. Notice the lighting.

Click to view full size image

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lloyd ... x1pm?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lloyd ... x1pm?hl=en

I think you nailed it, bystander!

Ann

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 5:41 pm

bystander wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 5:30 pm

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:29 pm I like map puzzles! It's the Lynn Farrell Arena at Hastings College:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5970813 ... 384!8i8192

Well, that link to the street view seems to be borked, but it looks like this:


lynn farrell arena at hastings college nebraska.png


And here's the map view - https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5965508 ... a=!3m1!1e3

I think it's more likely the football stadium at Lloyd Wilson Field.
Here's a view from the inside. Notice the lighting.

Click to view full size image

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lloyd ... x1pm?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lloyd ... x1pm?hl=en

I think you nailed it, bystander!

Ann

Bystander is right of course. His first link shows a perfect match to the building in this APOD. Plenty of other features in my image don't match either: windows and arches, etc. Fooled again! So much for my "map puzzle" skills.

But I was *"SO* close. Here are both buildings in the same scene:

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 7:10 pm

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 5:41 pm

bystander wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 5:30 pm
I think it's more likely the football stadium at Lloyd Wilson Field.
Here's a view from the inside. Notice the lighting.

Click to view full size image

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lloyd ... x1pm?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lloyd ... x1pm?hl=en

I think you nailed it, bystander!

Ann

Bystander is right of course. His first link shows a perfect match to the building in this APOD. Plenty of other features in my image don't match either: windows and arches, etc. Fooled again! So much for my "map puzzle" skills.

But I was *"SO* close. Here are both buildings in the same scene:

Click to view full size image

Wow, both buildings in the same scene, separated by only a few hundred yards, or even less, I guess!

You were close indeed, Johnny!

Ann

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 7:26 pm

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 7:10 pm

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 5:41 pm

I think you nailed it, bystander!

Ann

Bystander is right of course. His first link shows a perfect match to the building in this APOD. Plenty of other features in my image don't match either: windows and arches, etc. Fooled again! So much for my "map puzzle" skills.

But I was *"SO* close. Here are both buildings in the same scene:


lloyd wilson field and lynn farrell arena.png

Wow, both buildings in the same scene, separated by only a few hundred yards, or even less, I guess!

You were close indeed, Johnny!

Ann

The overall size and shape of the two buildings are almost the same as well. I suspect the same architect designed them both.