wall cloud

American  

[wawl klaud] / ˈwɔl ˌklaʊd /

noun

• wall clouds
  plural

1. a large, localized cloud that usually develops at the rear of a storm, sloping inward toward the precipitation and, when rotating, signaling a potential tornado; one of the two main types of arcus. Compare shelf cloud.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• wall clouds
  plural

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wall cloud

Chasing tornadic supercell in the San Joaquin Valley with developing wall cloud.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2023

Forecasters regularly talk about parts of the storm like the eye, the eyewall and the wall cloud:

From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2021

But wrapped around it is the eyewall, a ring of cumulonimbus clouds also known as a wall cloud.

From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2021

The wall cloud has dropped a wide cone and there is debris being kicked up on the ground.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 2, 2016

His intuition proved correct as a “caterpillar line” of vehicles formed to watch the first tornado drop from its wall cloud and develop into a swirling funnel.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 22, 2015

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