This Hole in the Sky Is Called a Fallstreak or Hole Punch Cloud

I prefer the latter name, as it more imaginatively describes what we're seeing: as though someone cut a hole out of the cloud formation. Earth Science Picture of the Day explains how it forms:

Hole punch clouds can occur following cloud seeding, but they're almost always caused by aircraft passing through a shallow, mid-level cloud deck. They're not often seen but can be attention getting whenever they form. If the supercooled water droplets in the cloud layer are perturbed during a jet or propeller plane transit, the droplets will instantly freeze into myriad ice crystals. When this happens latent heat is released which warms the air and evaporates the undisturbed portion of the cloud. Ice crystals falling through the hole punch (the darkened patch near the center of the hole) are called fall streaks.

-via TYWKIWDBI | Photo: H. Raabā€‹

#cloud #holepunchcloud

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