A rare weather system surprised beachgoers in California last week.
An impressive cloud briefly invaded Natural Bridges Beach in Santa Cruz, making the picturesque beach look like the impending apocalypse. The system, called a roll cloud, is a "low-level, horizontal, tube-shaped arcus cloud," according to the Meteorology Glossary.
In just a moment the cloud appears to roll over the beach from the ocean, bringing with it strong winds.
"Umbrellas were flying, sand was pelting me in the face and people were quickly leaving the beach. After only a few minutes, the fog cloud passed and the sun came out," the uploader wrote on YouTube.
As quickly as the cloud approached, it was gone and the skies cleared. Roll clouds are so odd because they are completely detached from their parent cold front or storm system, and can appear and leave an area quickly.
In Australia, weather enthusiasts hunt a roll cloud called the Morning Glory, which typically occurs in the early morning hours on the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria during the dry season.
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