Central Florida was treated to an interesting display on weather satellites as gaps opened up in the clouds known as “fallstreak holes” or “hole-punch clouds.”
They can be seen quickly moving eastward on the GOES-16 satellite as circular holes in a canopy of cirrus clouds across central Florida.
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The perspective from the ground looks something like what was seen captured by this timelapse over Oklahoma recently.
This is really neat. Timelapse of a Fallstreak Hole over Tulsa at sunset, passing right over @FOX23
— 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘺𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵 ☂✈😷 (@jamesaydelott) December 5, 2017
The hole is caused by unfrozen supercooled water that freezes and falls below the cloud (seen as a cirrus patch below the hole) #okwx @spann pic.twitter.com/pfBJ83aeGJ
What makes the hole in the clouds?
The hole forms from a process where water turns into ice forming a clear void in the cloud deck.
The procedure starts with small super-cooled liquid water droplets alongside ice crystals.
Surprisingly, it is possible to have unfrozen water suspended at high altitudes. This was the case Friday morning when a weather balloon launched from Cape Canaveral measured temperatures well below -20°C above 25,000 ft.
Tracks from high altitude planes can also be seen marked by narrow lines pointing into the holes. Those line-shaped clouds are called contrails caused by aircraft engine exhaust.
Planes flying through the layer instantly froze the water droplets. The microphysics caused evaporative warming, opening up a drier circular void in the remaining clouds.
Eventually the clouds in the middle of the hole, composed of ice crystals, descend into warmer air below where they evaporate away.