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The Morning Glory cloud is a rare meteorological phenomenon consisting of a low-level atmospheric solitary wave and associated cloud, occasionally observed in different locations around the world.

The wave often occurs as an amplitude-ordered series of waves forming bands of roll clouds. The southern part of the Gulf of Carpentaria in Northern Australia is the only known location where it can be predicted and observed regularly due to the configuration of land and sea in the area.

Morning Glory clouds can be observed from Burketown from late September to early November. A Morning Glory cloud is a roll cloud, or arcus cloud, that can be up to 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long,1 to 2 kilometres (0.62 to 1.24 mi) high, often only 100 to 200 metres (330 to 660 ft) above the ground. Three distinct types of Morning Glory clouds have been identified. 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. Cloud is continuously formed at the leading edge while being eroded at the trailing edge. 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 Morning Glory cloud of the Gulf of Carpentaria has been studied by multiple teams of scientists since the early 1970s.

One of the main contributors for the formation of the morning glory clouds is the mesoscale circulations associated with a difference in sea breezes that develop over the Peninsula and the Gulf. Locals have noted that the Morning Glory is likely to occur when the humidity in the area is high, which provides moisture for the cloud to form, and when strong sea breezes have blown the preceding day. 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). 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. 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.

Although the Morning Glory clouds over the southern part of the Gulf of Carpentaria are the most frequent and predictable, similar phenomena have occasionally been observed elsewhere, e.g., over central United States, Canada, in the English Channel, Munich, Berlin, eastern Russia, and other maritime regions of Australia. Morning Glory clouds have occasionally been reported on Cape Cod and in the Gulf of California off the Mexican coast. A Morning Glory also passed through Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, in April 2009, as well as several communities in Newfoundland in May 2022. In contrast to the Gulf of Carpentaria where the Morning Glory is visible in the morning, those in the Maritimes have all occurred during the evening. A Morning Glory cloud was observed in 2007 over the Campos dos Goytacazes bay in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 20 November 2013, a Morning Glory formation formed over the greater Durban area. On 4 June 2015 a Morning Glory cloud formed over St. On 3 November 2016 a Morning Glory cloud formed over Appelscha, The Netherlands. On 5 February 2018 a Morning Glory cloud formed over Richmond, Virginia, US. On 30 August 2018, a Morning Glory cloud formed over Ruskin, FL, US.

Morning Glory Cloud of the Gulf of Carpentaria Galleries and articles covering the history of soaring the wave.

Quick Facts

• A Morning Glory cloud is a roll cloud, or arcus cloud, that can be up to 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long,1 to 2 kilometres (0.62 to 1.24 mi) high, often only 100 to 200 metres (330 to 660 ft) above the ground.
• 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.
• Morning Glory clouds can be observed from Burketown from late September to early November.
• The Morning Glory cloud of the Gulf of Carpentaria has been studied by multiple teams of scientists since the early 1970s.
• 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.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Morning Glory cloud". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.