Check Out This Extremely Cool Cloud in Extremely Hot Portugal

Check Out This Extremely Cool Cloud in Extremely Hot Portugal

For once, a beach scene is a relevant visual for a continent in the grips of an extreme, climate change-juiced heat wave. In Portugal this week, beachgoers were treated to a weather phenomenon known as a “roll cloud,” where cool and moist air over the ocean rolls ashore and meets stiflingly hot air on land. If wind conditions are just right, you get a massive, sometimes hundreds of miles’ long cloud that looks quite a bit like when the aliens in James Cameron’s The Abyss threaten to use massive waves to destroy humanity if we don’t stop threatening each other with nukes (relatable!). Look at this wild shit!

The phenomenon landed as much of Europe swelters in some very unpleasant heat. Large parts of Spain along with Portugal experienced triple digit temperatures, which have helped spark wildfires that have killed at least two people. France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, and elsewhere all saw record or near-record heat, with more likely to come. You don’t usually get some visually arresting but otherwise benign weather as a side dish to your dystopian heat events, so it’s worth enjoying to the extent possible.

 
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