VIDEO: Strange cotton wool clouds stun Argentine residents

Sky full of cotton wool ball clouds that look like they’re ‘from another planet’ stun residents in Argentina as beautiful Mammatus formation appears on overcast day

Mammatus clouds often indicate a rapidly approaching thunder storm
Meteorologists say the bulges and pouches under the cloud base are unusual
Normally the formations are associated with large cumulonimbus clouds

By Darren Boyle for MailOnline

Published: 14:42 GMT, 23 November 2021 | Updated: 14:43 GMT, 23 November 2021

An unusual weather phenomena wowed residents in Argentina due to the rare cloud formation that looked like a series of giant balls of cotton wool.

The overcast sky changed to Mammatus clouds last week over Casa Grande, Cordoba on November 13.

The weird cloud formation while looking beautiful can warn of potentially violent thunder storms.

The footage was uploaded onto the internet last weekend and has been viewed more than 10,000 times.

People viewing the video described the clouds as ‘marshmallows’, ‘cotton wool’ and ‘freaky’.

The video was accompanied by a description: ‘Late Saturday afternoon the sky was covered with these unusual clouds that made us feel as if we were trapped in a vivarium, then came the strong storm with lightning, winds, and hail.

This unusual cloud formation was spotted over Casa Grande, Cordoba on November 13

The footage was uploaded onto the internet last weekend and has been viewed more than 10,000 times

‘We were lucky to have been there to capture this strange phenomenon, which may be a product of weather manipulation.’

Viewers were amazed at such a mesmerising sight. ‘Those are the prettiest clouds I have ever seen,’ a user commented. Some called them, ‘Marshmallow clouds’.

A person wrote with humour, ‘Wait? So you are telling me that’s not cotton and you didn’t shrink yourself down to fit in that miniature forest?’

Another said: ‘That’s so freaky, I’d be staring at it all day if I could.’

Others said the clouds ‘could by from another planet’ and another viewer suggested they got the ‘heepee jeebies’.

A final person added: ‘This is beautiful. We truly live in paradise.’

What are mammatus clouds?

Mammatus clouds are very distinctive and derive their name from Latin mamma for udder or breast.

The formation features a series of bulges or pouches from the bottom of the cloud.

They are normally associated by large cumulonimbus clouds – especially cumulonimbus clouds with a large anvil. As the anvil loses altitude it causes an uneven cloud base which can be seen from the ground.

The mammatus formation is indicative of unstable Cumulonimbus clouds which often lead to thunderstorms, hail, heavy rain and lightning.

If the air is cold enough the heavy rain could turn into a snow storm.

According to the Met Office, mammatus clouds have also been seen with stratocumulus, altostratus and altocumulus clouds.

Mammatus formations have also been seen on the underside of volcanic ash clouds.

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