A rare phenomenon in the sky surprised residents of Aktau

Amazing natural phenomenon: residents of Aktau witnessed rare roll clouds

An unusual atmospheric phenomenon attracted the attention of residents in the Kazakhstani city of Aktau. Images of unusually shaped clouds are being actively shared on social media, reports tengrinews.kz.

Specialists have determined that the video captured rare roll clouds, known in meteorology as volutus.

"This is an elongated, usually low-lying horizontal cloud mass in the shape of a tube, which creates the illusion of rotating around its own axis. Roll clouds are solitons, not connected to other clouds, and are an example of wave disturbance in the Earth's atmosphere. Such clouds form as a result of cold air outflow from cold fronts," reported the press service of "Kazhydromet".

Meteorologists emphasize that roll clouds are considered one of the rarest and most unusual atmospheric phenomena. "Under the influence of a downward flow from approaching air masses, humid air moves upward, cools, and forms a cylindrical cloud," explained the specialists.

"Kazhydromet" officially confirmed that this unique natural phenomenon was indeed observed in Aktau on July 7.