Undulatus asperatus

                                                                                                          photograph by James Franco

                 

"A storm system moving across the Ozarks on June 7th produced widespread interest for more than just the thunder and rainfall it produced. As the system moved across the region, the balance of instability aloft and a relatively stable low level airmass helped to produce what was likely a potentially new form of clouds now under review by the WMO. The cloud type in question has been named, "Undulatus asperatus".

Undulatus asperatus (or alternately, asperatus) is a rare, newly recognized cloud formation, that was proposed in 2009 as the first cloud formation added since cirrus intortus in 1951 to the International Cloud Atlas of the WMO. The name translates approximately as roughened or agitated waves.

The clouds are most closely related to undulatus clouds. Although they appear dark and storm-like, they tend to dissipate without a storm forming. The ominous-looking clouds have been particularly common in the Plains states of the United States, often during the morning or midday hours following convective thunderstorm activity. As of June 2009 the Royal Meteorological Society is gathering evidence of the type of weather patterns in which undulatus asperatus clouds appear, so as to study how they form and decide whether they are distinct from other undulatus clouds."