Swirling clouds resembling hurricanes spotted in Atlantic Ocean: The science behind von Karman vortices
The swirling clouds are called “von Karman vortices." They are named after Theodore von Karman, a co-founder of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and one of the first scientists to describe the unusual atmospheric phenomenon.
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Unusual, swirling cloud formations were recently spotted spinning near the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of northwestern Africa, but even though they resemble hurricanes, these clouds don’t have the power associated with one of the most destructive forces of nature on Earth.
The swirling clouds are called "von Karman vortices." They are named after Theodore von Karman, a co-founder of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and one of the first scientists to describe the unusual atmospheric phenomenon, according to NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS).
NESDIS says the clouds occur when the prevailing wind is diverted by elevated land features such as islands, mountains or volcanoes.
In a tweet posted by the National Hurricane Center’s Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch, a series of swirling von Karman vortices can be seen in a satellite loop spinning south of the Canary Islands. They were caused by the air flowing to the southwest around the tall mountains associated with the island chain.
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The elevated land features, such as the mountains of the Canary Islands, disrupt the flow of wind and cause the air and clouds to spin in a spiral shape that resembles hurricanes.
The wind intensity affects the pattern of the cloud swirls. These vortices are driven by prevailing winds, which NESDIS says can change seasonally and cause differences in the direction and structure of the vortices.
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NESDIS says Guadalupe Island (off the western coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula) and the Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands (off the western coast of Africa) are common spots for von Karman vortices form. In addition, satellites have also captured images of the spinning clouds over the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile.
They've also been spotted near Tristan da Cunha, a remote volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean; Jeju Island, South Korea's largest island; and the Kuril Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, according to NESDIS.