Fallstreak hole: Rare cloud formation offers celestial treat to Australians

The Australians living in the eastern part of the Victoria state were offered with a celestial treat by the Monday’s morning sky as a rare hole opened up apparently in the cloud cover.

The phenomenon was not exactly portentous, the experts said, adding a clear blue sky and a beautiful rainbow was there to greet the sky gazers.

Even if the celestial phenomenon was not threatening, it caught enough attention from the social mongers due to its strange and perplexing appearance.

The social networking forums were abuzz with the jokes and mockeries about the unusual meteorological event with many calling it rapture.

But space experts and meteorologists explain like other celestial events, this unusual occurrence has a scientific relevancy. They say it’s not “aliens,” as many social networking posts have suggested.

“A fallstreak hole is a circular or elliptical gap that can appear in high- to mid-level clouds. There are water droplets in the cloud that have yet to freeze. Once they do following the introduction of ice crystals, the water droplet freezes and grows. As it grows, it begins to fall and a hole is left behind,” meteorologist Linda Lam said.

The office of US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recently discussed about the meteorological phenomenon. According to NOAA, such formation generally occurs in high to mid-level clouds.

Explaining the formation of its website, NOAA said: “These ‘supercooled’ water droplets need a ‘reason’ to freeze, which usually comes in the form of ice crystals. Planes passing through the cloud layer can bring these ice crystals. Once the ice crystals are introduced, the water droplets quickly freeze, grow and start to fall. A hole is left behind, which will start to expand outward as neighboring droplets start to freeze.”

In simpler terms, the experts explain that a part of the cloud cover got frozen above the Gippsland area of southeast Australia and gradually began to sink and left a giant gap resembling a hole in the blue sky.

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Christina Langfold

Remember that weird girl in school who never quite managed to fit in? Who was always silent and strange? That was me during my entire teenage life. A few years after finishing college (with a degree in arts) I decided that the best way to become more sociable, while also feeling safe, is to test my people skills online.