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Mammatus clouds are associated with the powerful storms which can occur in the summer, and are a sign of the massive quantities of water vapour that are held in the languid summer air. Clouds in general consist of water droplets, ice crystals or a mixture of both, and the shapes of the various cloud forms are caused by a number of factors such as temperature, the ratio of water and ice, the altitude of the cloud and the windspeeds within it.

The exact forms are also governed by a complex interplay of wind, rising and falling air, and changes in humidity and density.

But while most clouds have wispy edges, mammatus lobes, which are usually stable for only a few minutes - have unusually sharp and well-defined boundaries. Each lobe can be up to a mile in diameter.

They are also nearly opaque, making them look far more tangible than a mass of droplets and ice flecks

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13y ago

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