Posted: Sep 9, 2010 4:43 PM by KBZK Media Center
Updated: Sep 9, 2010 4:48 PM
Viewers snapped photos Thursday afternoon of what they believe was a funnel cloud spotted east of Belgrade.
These photos were taken around 3:20 p.m. Thursday in the Belgrade area.
"While observing the activity of the hailstorm hitting us here in Belgrade with pea-size hail, I noticed the clouds to the east had several wisps of cloud hanging down. One of them began to move suddenly and then began to become more solid in form, then as I scrambled to find my camera, it started to become thin and pencil-like and streaming downward. I finally got my fresh batteries into my camera and these are the photos I took AFTER I saw it form the pencil-like funnel. I could not see the airport or land because of my location, but my guess is that it was heading near or east of the airport," Lynne Baber of Belgrade wrote in an email to KBZK accompanying her photos which showed the clouds over a roof.
The National Weather Service could not determine, based on the photos, if the cloud formation was in fact a funnel cloud. While the agency could not rule it out, it most likely was not, according to the National Weather Service.
The only thing that could determine if it was a funnel cloud is if it was rotating, and rotations cannot be seen with still images, according to the National Weather Service.
After reviewing the photo of cloud formations over the row of trucks, KBZK meteorologist Adam Bell said it could be a possible cold air funnel. A cold air funnel consists of cold air behind a cold front that circulates high above the ground and is weak and therefore not threatening.
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