Strange Hole-Punch Clouds Explained

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Airplanes can punch holes in clouds and make it rain, new research shows. As propeller or jet airplanes pass through the right atmospheric conditions, they make liquid water droplets freeze and immediately drop as snow, leaving a circular fissure behind.

Odd clouds can sometimes elude explanation for decades, and these mysterious gaps in the sky, aptly called hole-punch clouds or channel clouds, have been puzzling sky gazers and scientists alike since the 1940s. A 1968 article in the magazine Weatherwise called them “A Meteorological Whodunit?”

As recently as October 2009, headlines touted a “Mystery UFO Halo Over Moscow.” Earlier studies had suggested a link between hole-punch clouds and airplanes, though the mechanism was unclear.

Previous research also suggests that propeller planes could make snow fall when they flew through supercooled clouds, where water droplets remain liquid despite subfreezing temperatures. But until recently, a direct connection between airplanes, hole-punch clouds and snowfall was missing. Now, a team of atmospheric scientists report observing all three in the June Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

Continued at link.


Just ran across this and found it worthy of sharing for explanation of these types of clouds. If there's a thread on it, which there likely is please correct me because I searched and didn't find anything.

Otherwise, enjoy.

[edit on 15-6-2010 by Crossfate]

There are several threads, using the name I know them as, FALLSTREAK HOLES.

Wiki has a good explanation:
en.wikipedia.org...

The first time I researched them, it was explained they were called that because the ice crystals fall leaving streaks. I don't know if that is true or not, but it works for me.

reply to post by Crossfate
I'm not sure that airplanes cause all of them but now it seems that they do cause at least some of the hole punch clouds.

I always thought so but it's nice to see it confirmed.

We started talking about these in another thread here:

Spaceship? No ...it’s a cloud!

yeah aeroplane sound like a reasonable excuse that the people will believe. I mean we have only had aeroplanes since 1911, decent ones since 1935 jets since the early 50's but hole punch clouds and those really screwed up clouds only seen two years ago and we are supposed to believe it is from aeroplanes!

Well i used to live under the flight path at Heathrow one of the busiest airports on the planet and guess what, we have a lot of clouds in the UK! and in 12 years I never saw a hole punch cloud.

These clouds can be massive yet a plane is tiny in comparison. come on NSA or who ever you are. iI thought you recruited from M.I.T CalTech and the like. The retards in the special Ed class at the Bronx school for the un-gifted could come up with a better excuse!

reply to post by theregonnakillme


I don't know, it sounds like they did their homework to me:

The researchers then linked satellite images of hole-punch clouds to flight schedules to show that jet aircraft, not just propeller planes, can also punch holes and produce snow. The supercooled droplets freeze after passing over the jet planes’ wings, Heymsfield said.

“We know exactly which aircraft produced the holes,” he said. “Researchers had previously linked a lot of snow to propeller aircraft, but they hadn’t made the connection to jet aircraft.”

If they know which plane caused which hole it doesn't sound like they're guessing to me.

Have you got a better theory and evidence to back it up?

By the way, what's your source for hole punch clouds only being around for two years?