'Holey' mackerel sky! Dozens of planes punch holes into clouds across the Southeast
Widespread sightings of eerie holes in clouds -- known as "fallstreak" or "hole punch" clouds, were reported from Texas across the South and into the Carolinas. While they may look other-worldly, they're actually just a sign of our nation's busy aviation system.
Surreal clouds spotted across Texas, Southeast on Thursday
Widespread sightings of eerie holes in clouds, known as "fallstreak clouds," were reported from Texas across the South and into the Carolinas on Thursday.
COLUMBUS, Ga. -- There were some surreal sights in the skies over the Southeastern U.S. Thursday -- both from above and below the cloud deck.
Widespread sightings of eerie holes in clouds were reported from Texas across the South and into the Carolinas. While they may look other-worldly, they're actually just a sign of our nation's busy aviation system.
A fallstreak clouds spotted over Columbus, Georgia on Jan. 26, 2023.
(Jeff Fowler / FOX Weather)
THE PLANE TRUTH: WHAT MADE THIS SPOOKY-LOOKING CLOUD NEAR PORTLAND?
The clouds are known as "fallstreak" or "hole punch" clouds and are commonly created when "an airplane flies through super-cooled clouds and disturbs them enough that the precipitate out as ice crystals," according to meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Portland.
Despite planes taking off and landing thousands of times a day, these clouds are fairly rare to spot and need just the right kind of cloud layer and atmospheric setup to where the clouds will react in this way.
HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER ON TV
But on Thursday, the conditions were ripe across several states for the clouds to form.