WW2010
University of Illinois

WW2010
 
  welcome
 
> online guides
 
  archives
 
  educational cd-rom
 
  current weather
 
  about ww2010
 
  index

Online Guides
 
  introduction
 
> meteorology
 
  remote sensing
 
  reading maps
 
  projects, activities

Meteorology
 
  introduction
 
  air masses, fronts
 
> clouds, precipitation
 
  el nino
 
  forces, winds
 
  hurricanes
 
  hydrologic cycle
 
  light, optics
 
  midlatitude cyclones
 
  severe storms
 
  weather forecasting

Clouds, Precipitation
 
  introduction
 
  mechanisms
 
  precip processes
 
  high level clouds
 
  mid level clouds
 
  low level clouds
 
  vertically developed
 
> other cloud types

Other Cloud Types
 
  contrails
 
> billow clouds
 
  mammatus
 
  orographic
 
  pileus

User Interface
 
  graphics
> text

NOTE: We've guessed that you're not using a client that supports colored tables and have tried to compensate. Low graphics mode looks much better on clients that do... we recommend switching to Netscape 3.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
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Billow Clouds
rotating eddies

Billow clouds are created from instability associated with flows having marked vertical shear and weak thermal stratification. The common name for this instability is Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. One may visualize these instabilities as a row of horizontal eddies aligned within this layer of vertical shear.

[Image: example of kelvin helmholtz waves (61K)]


Billow clouds are created in the upward branch of each of the eddies if the air within this branch has a high enough relative humidity that, upon lifting, the air parcel reaches saturation. Individual billow clouds generally have life times of a few minutes. The presence of billow clouds provides a visible signal to aviation interests of potentially dangerous turbulence.


Terms for using data resources. CD-ROM available.
Credits and Acknowledgments for WW2010.
Department of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.