Description
Morning Glory clouds can be observed at Burketown from late September to early November. There is generally only a handful of well formed spectacular looking clouds during this period at Burketown. During the 2012 season there was only four to be seen from there but quite a few ragged unspectacular cloud lines to be seen. Often they start to break up before arriving at Burketown or pass to the north and only stay well formed over water. In an aircraft there is a significantly better chance of sighting the cloud.
A Morning Glory cloud is a roll cloud that can be up to 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long, 1 to 2 kilometres (0.62 to 1.2 mi) high, often only 100 to 200 metres (330 to 660 ft) above the ground and can move at speeds up to 60 kilometres (37 mi) per hour. Sometimes there is only one cloud, sometimes there are up to eight consecutive roll clouds.
The Morning Glory is often accompanied by sudden wind squalls, intense low-level wind shear, a rapid increase in the vertical displacement of air parcels, and a sharp pressure jump at the surface. In the front of the cloud, there is strong vertical motion that transports air up through the cloud and creates the rolling appearance, while the air in the middle and rear of the cloud becomes turbulent and sinks.
The cloud can also be described as a solitary wave or a soliton or an undular bore, which is a wave that has a single crest and moves without changing speed or shape.
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