Amid heavy rains, a massive and terrifying shelf cloud appeared in Uttarakhand's Haridwar and its visuals have taken social media by storm. The video was shared by a Twitter user Anindya Singh has left people in shock. The large cloud formation, also known as 'Arcus Cloud' usually form at the leading edge of a thunderstorm or along the boundary of a cold front, according to the Weather Zone website. They usually appear as a broad arc across the sky that can sometimes appear to be rotating horizontally, it added.
The website further mentioned that shelf clouds form when cold and dense air is forced into a warmer air mass by wind. This rush of cold air often occurs in a thunderstorm’s downdraught, where cold air rushes towards the ground before spreading out to create a gust front.
Shelf clouds produced by thunderstorms are always preceded by a rush of dry and cold air ahead of the cloud, with rain arriving after the shelf cloud has passed overhead. However, it added, while shelf clouds don’t usually cause severe weather themselves, those associated with severe thunderstorms or squall lines can come with damaging straight-line winds. These storms may also bring heavy rain and large hail, the Weather Zone website stated.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the state faces natural calamities every year during monsoon.
"We get on alert mode as soon as this season comes...We have requested all Chardham Yatra pilgrims to be alert and initiate their Yatra only after taking note of the weather. Kanwar Yatra is also underway. It is raining at several locations and the Administration is monitoring it..."
The Badrinath National Highway and several other roads were blocked due to incessant rains and landslides on Monday, officials said, as quoted by PTI. The report added that the traffic on the highway was restored after a few hours while efforts are on to open other roads that are still closed, they said. The MeT department has issued an alert for heavy rains in 11 districts of the state.