Von Kármán vortices make another appearance near the Canary Islands.
Appearing like swirls of soft-serve ice cream, the twists and twirls of these clouds off the western coast of Africa are a demonstration of the artistic nature of our planet and fluid dynamics.
These cloud patterns—known as von Kármán vortices—are a familiar atmospheric phenomenon, especially in areas where trade winds are prevalent. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image of vortices near the Canary Islands on July 9, 2020. Satellites have also spotted von Kármán vortices in this area at night.
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Image via NASA Earth Observatory
