<p>In the 1950s in England in an otherwise cloudless blue sky in summer a very small dense cloud appeared overhead around midday which looked like cumulus and for about 5 minutes we had torrential rain. The cloud dissipated and the rest of the day remained cloudless. A truly odd experience that I can’t explain.</p>

<p>What could have happened, what could have caused it?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-26T23:14:50.053Z
Happens every summer here in south east Australia.
Gimelist
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2020-05-26T23:33:47.500Z
Without knowing the exact setup it's hard to explain what happened but this isn't an uncommon thing.

Around midday is when the temperature is beginning to approach peak heating and because of that parcels of air can begin to rise through the atmosphere, causing precipitation. Other factors that could cause this is winds blowing up a hillside, or a factory spewing out hot exhaust.

On certain days where the winds shift as you go up the atmosphere (referred to as shear), these storms could set off other storms, but if there isn't enough shear, they will just pop up and rain themselves out.
Wxboyajm
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2020-05-27T06:45:20.003Z
So, what's the question? I can't see any.
Jean-Marie Prival
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2020-05-27T09:35:12.160Z
@Jean-MariePrival I think the question part is deductable from the text, I inserted it. You might approve/improve its edit suggestion.
peterh
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2020-05-27T09:37:32.217Z
@Wxboyajm I suggest to convert it to an answer.
peterh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-28T16:44:27.120Z
@Gimelist: Likewise in the western US, though it's rare to have a single such cloud.  More usual is to have several well separated ones, each dropping its own localized rain shower.
jamesqf
<meteorology>
Torrential rain from a tiny cloud in otherwise blue sky
John Diamond
# Torrential rain from a tiny cloud in otherwise blue sky

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-05-26)

In the 1950s in England in an otherwise cloudless blue sky in summer a very small dense cloud appeared overhead around midday which looked like cumulus and for about 5 minutes we had torrential rain. The cloud dissipated and the rest of the day remained cloudless. A truly odd experience that I can’t explain.

What could have happened, what could have caused it?

**Tags:** meteorology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Happens every summer here in south east Australia.  
> **username_2**: Without knowing the exact setup it's hard to explain what happened but this isn't an uncommon thing.  Around midday is when the temperature is beginning to approach peak heating and because of that parcels of air can begin to rise through the atmosphere, causing precipitation. Other factors that could cause this is winds blowing up a hillside, or a factory spewing out hot exhaust.  On certain days where the winds shift as you go up the atmosphere (referred to as shear), these storms could set off other storms, but if there isn't enough shear, they will just pop up and rain themselves out.  
> **username_3**: So, what's the question? I can't see any.  
> **username_4**: @username_3 I think the question part is deductable from the text, I inserted it. You might approve/improve its edit suggestion.  
> **username_4**: @username_2 I suggest to convert it to an answer.  
> **username_5**: @username_1: Likewise in the western US, though it's rare to have a single such cloud.  More usual is to have several well separated ones, each dropping its own localized rain shower.  

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## 0 answers

