Yesterday saw some pretty amazing sights in the skies of Tulsa. Specifically, we’re talking about the cloud formation that was a pretty amazing spectacle. Due to its odd formation, some claimed that they looked like ‘liquid’, which is a fairly accurate description. In short, it’s safe to say that these weren’t your typical clouds and that they were quite a rarity.

Some even went as far as to say that they resembled the clouds from the movie Donnie Darko, whereby a wormhole literally warps the shape of the sky. Further still, some also compared it to some kind of UFO phenomenon. These clouds formed as part of the storm that recently rocked Tulsa which saw torrential rain, strong winds, and a lot of damage to the city.

For the boffins amongst us, these can be explained as Asperitas clouds which are very rare. In fact, they only earned their name in 2009 – which shows how little science knows about them. The exact triggers for the formation of Asperitas clouds are still being studied, but they are commonly associated with the aftermath of thunderstorms which makes sense given the context.

In brief, the interaction between rising warm air and descending cool air within these weather systems may contribute to the development of these bizarre cloud structures. Unfortunately for Tulsans, it may be some time until we see these clouds again. However, as they’re associated with storms, perhaps it’s not such a bad thing anyway.