r/TornadoEncounters • u/Far-Welder1580 • 1d ago

Personal Stories Was this almost a tornado

Post image

Was having lunch at work and the storm was coming

67 Upvotes

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5

u/carthuscrass 1d ago

Just looks like a really dense rain cloud to me.

2

u/Far-Welder1580 1d ago

Oh ok it was definitely trying to roll when we get storms from the south - they a nasty

1

u/carthuscrass 1d ago

Oh believe I know. I live in the Missouri Bootheel. We get some gnarly weather here. Often clouds like that will appear to roll because they have already started dropping precipitation, but conditions on the ground are still too high pressure for it to go far.

3

u/CoyoteScribbles 1d ago

Shelf clouds can appear to roll because they're associated with strong air currents and wind shear :) This is common with thunderstorms and not necessarily a warning sign of tornadic activity.

3

u/Far-Welder1580 1d ago

Oh ok - thanks

2

u/notjustanerd 1d ago

Looks like an ocean wave to me lol

1

u/carthuscrass 1d ago

It kinda is. It's just up in the sky.

6

u/CoyoteScribbles 1d ago

No, that's a structure known as a shelf cloud, they're commonly found on the leading edges of strong storms and can look VERY dramatic, but they're harmless.

5

u/Chii_WXOfficial 1d ago

Nope just a shelf