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3rd grade level appropriate explanation of phenomenon 

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3rd grade level appropriate explanation of phenomenon 

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What Are Morning Glory Clouds?
Morning Glory clouds form in a roll shape and are often called roll clouds. The most famous roll clouds are located in Australia, but roll clouds are common in California. You can see these clouds most often in September, October, and November of each year. The Morning Glory clouds can be up to 620 miles long. It is normal for up to ten roll clouds to be in the sky at once.

How Are They Formed?
Morning Glory clouds are formed when moist air meets dry air. When the two air temperatures meet it creates a tube-shaped cloud. The shape of the cloud makes it look like it is rolling. These clouds form over large bodies of water. The Morning Glory clouds are popular in Australia because they are close to the ground. This looks scary, but they are a safe wonder of the world.

How Is It Connected To Weather Patterns?
The Morning Glory clouds are formed because of the change in weather patterns. This is why the clouds are more common in the Fall.

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3-ESS2-1
WEATHER AND CLIMATE
Scientists record patterns of the weather across
different times and areas so that they can make
predictions about what kind of weather might happen
next. (UE.ESS2D.a)

I can relate this standard to the Morning Glory phenomenon by discussing how the Morning Glory clouds only appear in certain months of the year. This will lead into a detailed lesson about weather patterns across different times and areas.

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Youtube video explaining the Morning Glory Phenomenon

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Rare Morning Glory Clouds Look Like Weird Tubes in the Sky

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Upper Air Meteorology Of The Morning Glory Cloud

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As described on the Home page, the formation of a low pressure trough through Northern Queensland and an associated high pressure ridge along the Cape York Peninsula is required the day before a Morning Glory. The MSL analysis chart to your right is a classic example of this. This trough shown here encourages the formation of seabreezes around the Gulf and a prevailing north easterly flow.

The upper air charts show a marked veering of the winds aloft in the SE Gulf region above the lower seabreezes.
This 850hpa analysis chart shows the wind at around 5,000 feet to be south east.
This wind shift at altitude is associated with a subsidence inversion resulting from the mild mid level high pressure system.

At 10,000ft the 700hPa analysis chart shows the wind getting around to wards southerly. This mid level high pressure system is generally only associated with dry season weather and the underlying sea level trough tends to be a wet season phenomenon. Once these mid level highs disappear in late October, this effectively "lifts the lid" on convection and the thunderstorm season commences.

By the time we get to 18,000ft the winds are around further to the south west as shown on this 500hPa analysis chart.

These videos need flash player installed.
The sort of wind changes and inversions at altitude that are shown in the above upper air charts are ideal for the formation of standing air-mass wave systems ...sometimes known as sheer or inversion wave. As you watch you will see that the brightly lit mid-level cloud on the upper right is the crest of a standing wave around 15,000'.

The video to the right is part of a video sequence taken from Burketown looking towards Normanton as a poorly formed Morning Glory system is passing. The upper standing wave system that can be seen has a curve on it that approximates the south eastern corner of the Gulf.

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As described on the Home page, the formation of a low pressure trough through Northern Queensland and an associated high pressure ridge along the Cape York Peninsula is required the day before a Morning Glory. The MSL analysis chart to your right is a classic example of this.

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Youtube video of Morning Glory

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WEIRD Rotating Cloud Vortex! Strange PHENOMENON 2011.  HAARP or Morning Glory?

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How Morning Glory clouds are formed.

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Article on Morning Glory Phenomenon

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Modern Homo sapiens have been around for approximately 200,000 years, and modern civilization dates back 6,000 years. In this time, we have learned and accomplished an enormous amount; however, the world is still filled with mysteries. From earthquake lights to sailing stones, countless natural phenomena defy explanation or understanding. One such occurrence is the Morning Glory cloud.

A rare meteorological phenomenon, the Morning Glory cloud is not thoroughly understood but is believed to be the result of a collision between a humid easterly front from the Coral Sea and a warm westerly front from the Gulf of Carpentaria. At night, the air over Cape York cools and slides beneath a layer of warm air, leading to the spectacle. The low-level atmospheric waves "are usually about 1-2 km in height and can span up to 1,000 km in length," said Bureau of Meteorology Forecaster Andrew Bufalino. They can also appear as one solitary cloud or as up to 10 consecutive roll clouds.

Morning Glory cloud formations take the shape of a pipeline and move across the sky at speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour, most commonly from a north-easterly direction.

They are also popular with pilots who surf the clouds. "There are fewer people who have flown on the Morning Glory than have climbed Mount Everest," said Garrett Russell of the Caboolture Gliding Club. According to this article, pilots gather in the Burketown Pub to observe condensation on pints. They also examine the upward curling of coffee table corners. These tell-tale signs illustrate that the phenomenon is on its way. "If they are really obscured by condensation, the humidity is high and the pilots will finish their beer and go home for an early night, ready to get up before dawn to ride the cloud," said Russell. Tourists are also welcome to glide through the clouds with companies such as Savannah Aviation. The company says it offers "the very best views of the Morning Glory Clouds."

This eerie weather event occurs at dawn over the southern part of the Gulf of Carpentaria in Northern Australia and can be observed from a remote settlement called Burketown, Queensland between September and November, if and when the conditions are right. Similar phenomena have been reported in the United States, Canada, the English Channel, Germany, Brazil, and in Eastern Russia, but the Morning Glory cloud is seldom seen anywhere other than Northern Australia.

Long before pilots took to the skies, local Garawa Aboriginal people noticed the regularity of the formation. They refer to the unusual clouds as kangólgi and believe that the arrival of Morning Glory is a positive prediction of a flourishing bird population.

Regardless of the explanation, the Morning Glory cloud is yet another reason why Australia is considered one of the most extraordinary continents on this planet.

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Morning Glory: Australia's Rare Meteorological Phenomenon

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Modern Homo sapiens have been around for approximately 200,000 years, and modern civilization dates back 6,000 years. In this time, we have learned and accomplished an enormous amount; however, the world is still filled with mysteries. From earthquake lights to sailing stones, countless natural phenomena defy explanation or understanding.

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Morning Glory is a famous phenomenon that appears in the Gulf of Carpentaria region of northeastern Australia. These roll clouds appear mostly between September and mid-November. These clouds are formed by air ascending ahead of each wave and evaporating air descending behind each wave. The continuous formation of clouds at the edge of the wave makes the clouds look like they are rotating. This is why Morning Glory clouds are often called "roll clouds".