Scenario For Formation
The following is a summary of the conditions that cause the Morning Glory cloud to form in the Gulf of Carpentaria (after hypothesis of R.H.Clarke, as described in 1981). First, Cape York which is the peninsula that lies to the east of the gulf, is large enough that sea breezes develop on both sides. The breeze from the Coral Sea coast blows in from the east and the breeze from the gulf blows in from the west. The two breezes meet in the middle of the peninsula, forcing the air to rise there and form a line of clouds over the spine of the peninsula. When night comes, the air cools and descends and at the same time a surface inversion forms over the gulf (where air temperature increases with height). The densities in this stable layer are different above and below the inversion. The air descending from the peninsula to the east goes underneath the inversion layer and this generates a series of waves or rolling cylinders which travel across the gulf. These cylinders of air roll along the underside of the inversion layer, so that the air rises at the front of the wave and sinks at the rear. In the early morning, the air is saturated enough so that the rising air in the front produces a cloud, which forms the leading edge of the cylinder, and evaporates in the back, hence forming the Morning Glory cloud. The cloud lasts until the surface inversion disappears with the heating of the day.
This is one scenario that explains the formation of the Morning Glory Cloud over the Gulf of Carpentaria, but other explanations have also been proposed.
There are other ways in which Morning Glory clouds form, especially in rarer cases in other parts of the world, but these are far less understood.
Local weather lore in the area suggests that when the fridges frost over and the café tables' corners curl upwards at the Burketown Pub, there is enough moisture in the air for the clouds to form. Reportedly, all winds cease at ground level as the cloud passes over.
One vantage point to see Australia's Morning Glory is from Burketown in the remote Far North Queensland around September and October. Towns in this part of the world are small and far apart, and Burketown has an influx of glider and hang-glider pilots at this time of year.
Read more about this topic: Morning Glory Cloud
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