It seems we don’t know everything about storms yet. They have discovered a new meteorological phenomenon, and it is quite disturbing.
Although more and more people are watching the weather, new types of storms are still being discovered. Called Atmospheric Lake, and so far they have only been located in the Indian Ocean.
Atmospheric scientists Brian Mapes and Wei-Ming Tsai have described this new type of storm on the scientific web AGU.
That it has been discovered now does not mean that it is a new phenomenon, or that it is due to climate change. Simply, that it had not been described until now.
What is an Atmospheric Lake, and why is it called that?
Meteorologists have long known what they call atmospheric rivers, which are literally rivers of moisture or water that circulate through the atmosphere. These atmospheric rivers, in the form of clouds, move through the atmosphere and discharge rain on a regular basis.
Using the same analogy, An atmospheric lake is a concentration of water vapor in the atmosphere, shaped like a lake.
They can be so large, and carry so much water that some of them could create a puddle 1,000 kilometers in diameter, and several centimeters high.
In this satellite image, we can see one of these atmospheric lakes:
They appear in areas where there is very little wind, and they can stay in the same place for days, discharging water.
For now, these atmospheric lakes have only been found in the Indian Ocean, about 10 degrees from the equator.
As reported New Atlas, Brian Mapes and Wei-Ming Tsai have studied satellite climate data for the past five years, and discovered 17 atmospheric lakes lasting more than 6 days.
They are formed from streams of water vapor that flow from the Indo-Pacific region, then drift slowly westward to the eastern coast of Africa.
It is an important atmospheric phenomenon because it brings a lot of rain to parts of Africa that are dry.
Now these scientists are studying whether these Atmospheric Lakes are affected in any way by climate change. They will monitor them for a few years to check their evolution.