Cold front sweeps across Chicago Wednesday evening behind this eye-catching shelf cloud which unleashed downpours
Our friend Tracey Surface captured Wednesday’s evening’s stunning frontal passage.
The gush of cooler air riding strong northeast winds behind the front produced this
eye-catching “shelf” cloud—a rolling bank of clouds which formed as crashing
temperatures sent readings plunging to the dew point—the temperature of
condensation.
Radar scans put cloud tops as high 25,000 to 30,000 ft—yet amazingly, our lightning
detection system indicated NO lightning. However, 0.75” of an inch fell in under a
half an hour according to our colleague Steve Kahn in Arlington Heights and
motorists were forced to the side of the road because of the downpours which hit
Carpentersville. Thanks Tracey for another set of spectacular shots.
Photo courtesy: Tracey Surface