Morning Glory Cloud

weather · rare clouds · atmospheric waves

A rolling wave cloud. Morning Glory clouds are shaped like enormous cylinders or waves rolling through the sky. They're made of a special type of atmospheric wave that creates visible clouds as air moves up and down.

Spotted around the world. These clouds happen in different places on Earth, but they're particularly famous in Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria. Pilots and cloud watchers travel to see them because they're so rare and spectacular.

Best at sunrise. Morning Glory clouds are easiest to spot early in the morning when the sun is low, which is why they got their poetic name. The light makes them glow beautifully against the dawn sky.

Multiple waves in a row. Often you don't see just one cloud, but a whole series of them stacked together like ripples. These can stretch for hundreds of kilometers across the sky, creating bands of roll clouds that look almost like ocean waves in the air.