TOLEDO, Ohio — Tuesday morning brought a line of storms through southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio, including a particularly impressive meteorological sight: a shelf cloud. Viewers across the region sent in photos of the phenomenon, which are included in this story.
According to the National Weather Service, a shelf cloud is associated with squall lines and can bring severe, damaging winds. A shelf cloud is most easily identified by its horizontal shape, and is often large enough to cover the entire horizon, the agency said on their website.
When a shelf cloud passes over an area, it brings first wind, then rain. It can also bring brief, spin-up tornadoes, the NWS said, though those are often "rain-wrapped and short-lived."
A shelf cloud is sometimes mistaken for a wall cloud. According to the NWS, a wall cloud is more vertically-oriented and is typically much smaller than a shelf cloud. The rarer "roll cloud" are tube-shaped, horizontal clouds that are completely detached from the thunderstorm base, the NWS said, which makes them different from shelf clouds.
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Included below is a timelapse of the shelf cloud as it passed over downtown Toledo Tuesday morning around 9:30 a.m.
WTOL 11 viewers from southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio sent in their photos of the cloud, which are included in the gallery below:
PHOTOS | Shelf cloud rolls through northwest Ohio during storm
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