What an amazing picture of a supercell storm complete with wall cloud (center) and microburst (right) over Somerset early Wednesday evening. The drone, piloted by Andrew Godby, gives us such a unique and amazing perspective. The drone was able to give a safe vantage point to caputre all the processes involved with this powerful thunderstorm.
Under the wall cloud in the center, the air is being sucked into the storm creating the updraft. Radar showed the storm had rotation, so that wall cloud was also rotating and was tornado warned for at the time. As of this writing, midnight Wednesday night, there were no reports of touchdowns, but that may change as damage reports come in.
To the right of the wall cloud, you can see the micorburst. This is where the storm is producing heavy rain and potentially hail. What's also very interesting to see is how the rain shaft fans out as the microburst hits the ground. It can penetrate the ground, so the air has to go somewhere which is sideways. This can cause damaging straight line winds.
We may need the drones again Thursday as another round of thunderstorms is likely late in the day and better chances in the evening. Some of those storms could be strong or severe so you'll need to stay Weather Aware as the day progresses.
