Comments (82)

1. Daneel

   One does not simply walk into Montana!

   Beautiful cumulus nimbus, if you ask me.

   November 28, 2010 at 9:44 am
2. Tim G

   Transdimensional spaceworm?

   That is clearly a…

   Damn, I’m lacking some creativity/insight this morning. Somebody help me out.

   November 28, 2010 at 9:45 am
3. Julia (Jules)

   That is spooky.

   Very neat to look at but I think I’d crap myself if one of those appeared in my sky.

   November 28, 2010 at 9:55 am
4. PeedroPaula

   What an amazing photo and apt description!

   November 28, 2010 at 9:57 am
5. Lavocat

   Holy Shucking Fit, Batman!

   They don’t call it Big Sky Country fer nuthin’.

   November 28, 2010 at 10:10 am
6. Zucchi

   Holy cats! Hard to figure out the scale here.

   November 28, 2010 at 10:10 am
7. SRQHivemind

   When I saw this pic, I had one reaction:
   WHOA!

   I’d rather live with supercells than biblethumpers. Alas, I’m stuck.

   November 28, 2010 at 10:11 am
8. Gary Ansorge

   WOW!!! That’s one spicy space worm.

   Joke of the day;

   Gary was driving north thru Colorado and saw a sign just off the interstate that said “Telephone call to God, next exit.”

   Out of curiosity, he stopped at a small church to check this out and found a phone inside that said “Call God, $5.00/minute”.

   “Well, that’s obviously a scam.”, he thought. So he continued on his journey.

   Half way thru Wyoming, he saw another such sign and since he needed to stop to water the trees, he decided to check out this church, just for the fun of it. There was a sign inside that said “Phone call to God. $2.00/minute.” “Well, that’s better, but still a scam.” he thought and continued on his way.

   Just outside Great Falls Montana, he saw another such sign and decided to check it out one more time. Inside the small church, a red phone had a sign that said “Phone call to God. $ .25/minute.”

   He thought for a minute, then decided a quarter contribution to the church was not a problem, dropped in a quarter, picked up the phone and it started ringing. After three rings, he heard a deep, mellifluous voice say, “Yes, Gary, what can I do for you?”

   Startled, he asked “Are you REALLY God?”

   “Yes.” Said the voice.

   Gary asked “So, how come in Colorado and Wyoming it cost so much more to call you than it does here?”

   God answered and said “This is Gods Country so it’s just a local call.”

   ,,,ba da bum,,,

   Gary 7

   November 28, 2010 at 10:17 am
9. RAF

   Holy Helecallaka (or whatever it is y0u say)…that’s a pretty good reason for not living there

   November 28, 2010 at 10:26 am
10. Non-Believer

    Hello! This is an awesome reason for living there. Can you imagine how cool if you looked out your back door and saw this?
    Nature at it most magnificent.
    I wonder if there are jobs in Montana?

    November 28, 2010 at 10:48 am
11. Ernie in Berkeley

    Many similarly dramatic photos here, from a “storm chaser”:

    http://www.extremeinstability.com/index.htm

    November 28, 2010 at 11:09 am
12. Georg

    I wonder if there are jobs in Montana?

    Because “The Ranger” from Jellystone Park is now in nuthouse,
    that job is free.
    Yogi and BooBoo

    November 28, 2010 at 11:10 am
13. Phil Plait

    I’ll add that I gave a talk at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman a few years ago, and had a wonderful time. Given my predilection for amazing weather, this sort of thing is actually a draw for me. I’d love to see something like this swirling in the sky… as long as it’s a few kilometers away.

    November 28, 2010 at 11:28 am
14. milliWHAT?

    Somehow it seems like a fitting illustation of what it, probably, feels living around you.
    I wonder how you find the time.
    Thank you for your humor, the manner in which you state your opinions and the approach you take in explaining nature/science

    November 28, 2010 at 11:50 am
15. Sili

    I don’t want to live in a place where transdimensional spaceworms can appear in the sky and blast superheated steam straight down onto innocent earthlings.

    Iono. Of all the ways to go, that seems to me to be one of the better. Beats asteroids, for sure.

    November 28, 2010 at 12:23 pm
16. Arcturus

    I appreciate the image, but what causes such a dramatic display of power in the atmosphere? I’ve never seen anything like it, even the crazy trombi that thrashed the metallers equipment last summer in Finland was nowhere like that. It was just a huge hailstorm that swept over the place. Never before recorded such a strong and large trombi (from Italian, same thing as a tornado, though it forms over water, like a hurricane). It did rock the festival like a hurricane. Iron Maiden still played though, only 4 hours late as the stage was repaired.

    November 28, 2010 at 12:40 pm
17. Ken

    Phil,

    You do realize that since you didn’t post a disclaimer with this, we will soon be reading headlines such as:

    Internationally Acclaimed Astronomer Admits Possibility of Deadly Transdimensional Space Beings
    

    November 28, 2010 at 12:56 pm
18. Douglas Troy

    Phil,

    Clearly that isn’t a transdimensional space worm hole, that’s just crazy talk by someone that’s been in the eggnog a few too many times; yes I mean you, now put the cup down and back away from it slowly.

    Any normal person can plainly see that’s an alien space craft attempting to suck people up to be used in their holiday Chocolate People Cream Pie. Fortunately for you, they wouldn’t use you in their recipe, mainly because you’re obviously already partially baked.
    

    November 28, 2010 at 1:13 pm
19. Jon Hanford

    Looks like the mothership from “Close Encounters..” is about to drop out of that cloud.

    (But their astro-GPS must be on the fritz. Devils Tower is one state over in Wyoming.)

    November 28, 2010 at 1:20 pm
20. Fenchurch

    No, it’s clearly Galactus, sucking up everything from inside the planet.

    Quick! Somebody call the Fantastic Four!

    November 28, 2010 at 2:05 pm
21. noen

    And then there’s this.

    Just in case anyone is feeling left out. I am sure many places have examples of extreme weather.

    November 28, 2010 at 2:05 pm
22. Chris Grealy

    That is a real beauty, but I’m glad I wasn’t under it. Thanks for the image

    November 28, 2010 at 2:08 pm
23. Steve

    Hey, this is gorgeous! We see something similar every year out here in West Texas, come springtime. Nice to look at when it is off toward the horizon, scary when it moves toward you.

    November 28, 2010 at 2:42 pm
24. J. Major

    Funny I just ran across this image on the Boston Globe’s Big Picture feature of National Geographic photography from 2010. It was, honestly, my favorite (although there were a lot of close seconds!)
    http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/11/national_geographics_photograp.html

    November 28, 2010 at 2:54 pm
25. Jearley

    Enjoying the humor! For the record, this appears to be a ‘wall cloud’ and yeah, they can be precursors to tornadoes, I think. If I saw one heading towards me, I would take shelter, or try and get the heck out of its path. Great photo! I’ve never seen one that we back lit like this.

    November 28, 2010 at 2:57 pm
26. Rob Lang

    Its definately those Cardasians again,coming thru the worm hole,just wish the Kardashians would follow them back to their home world when they go!!!

    November 28, 2010 at 3:02 pm
27. Barber of Civility

    Don’t screw with Mother Nature!

    November 28, 2010 at 3:06 pm
28. Alex

    Holy massive-farting-cloud-sphincter.

    November 28, 2010 at 3:59 pm
29. miss tori

    We Have Sky Worm Sign the likes of which God has never seen, Usal!

    November 28, 2010 at 5:22 pm
30. shane

    [russian accent]“I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me. And I will have a pickup truck… maybe even a “recreational vehicle.” And drive from state to state. Do they let you do that? “[/russian accent]

    November 28, 2010 at 5:26 pm
31. Bipedal Tetrapod

    Got hit by one of these near Algonquin Park in September. It was very reminiscent of Independence Day, but with more lightning and horizontal rain…

    November 28, 2010 at 5:28 pm
32. Floyd

    Well, the largest storm of that kind (a supercell per your link) that I’ve seen was along I-80 on the way from somewhere in Nebraska to Denver.

    The second largest was along I-25 in New Mexico on the way from Las Vegas NM to Raton Pass.

    They happen in the Midwest as well (I’m from Indiana originally).

    November 28, 2010 at 7:03 pm
33. Charlie

    Innocent?

    November 28, 2010 at 7:07 pm
34. DJ Busby

    Amazing find. On my page I put the pic up, links to you, Nat Geo’s page, and Astropixie. Astropixie was a nice find, I’m glad you credited her, she has a nice page.
    -DJ Busby
    ASTRONASTY

    November 28, 2010 at 7:28 pm
35. Drew

    That is one strange looking storm! It actually reminds me of some animations I’ve seen where a miniature black hole or hypothetical mirror matter happens to strike the atmosphere from outer space. Very cool!

    November 28, 2010 at 7:44 pm
36. ggremlin

    Reminds me of “Howard the Duck”:

    It’s not nice to fool with the dark overlords!

    November 29, 2010 at 2:39 am
37. lukka

    I swear I saw blue telephone box inside this cloud…

    November 29, 2010 at 3:53 am
38. sophia8

    Arcturus @17: Iron Maiden played in a tornado? Would have liked to have been at that gig!
    Zucchi @7: For an idea of scale, look at the tree – you can just see it.

    November 29, 2010 at 4:48 am
39. William Roeder

    Transdimensional spaceworm?

    That’s the Q killing the baby Q’s parents.
    “Star Trek: The Next Generation” True Q (TV episode 1992) – IMDb
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708834/
    Ask Wil Wheaton.

    November 29, 2010 at 6:10 am
40. Bob_In_Wales

    @9 Gary – Tsk tsk Gary. Everybody knows God is English.

    November 29, 2010 at 6:22 am
41. Lewis

    Water goes in the top… A food hurricane comes out the bottom… (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs)

    That was my first thought. Amazing pic.

    November 29, 2010 at 6:36 am
42. Robert E

    @ SRQHivemind: Live in Oklahoma — you can have super-cells AND bible-thumpers.

    November 29, 2010 at 7:58 am
43. Nigel Depledge

    Arcturus (17) said:

    It did rock the festival like a hurricane. Iron Maiden still played though, only 4 hours late as the stage was repaired.

    Heh. Should not that have been The Scorpions?

    November 29, 2010 at 8:20 am
44. Chris

    That is amazing

    November 29, 2010 at 8:44 am
45. Gary Ansorge

    18. Ken

    LOL!!!

    40. Bob_In_Wales

    ,,,also LOL,,,

    Darn, and here I thought He was Jewish( Wonder if I can get my foreskin recalled). So, does he keep a “stiff, upper lip”?

    Gary 7

    November 29, 2010 at 9:04 am
46. George

    Ho Hum, just another day in Montana.

    November 29, 2010 at 9:11 am
47. jfb

    @Zucchi #7:

    Check out the tree and the farmhouse to the lower right. That should give you some idea of scale.

    November 29, 2010 at 9:26 am
48. mike burkhart

    You know this reminds me of the latest Indiana Jones movie that vortex could leed to another dimetion or it could just be a storm cloud . By the way if you want to talk to God free of charge you could do it in a house of worship or in the privcy of your own home.So why pay 5.00 for something you can do for free? (on second thought it could be those space invaders again )

    November 29, 2010 at 12:11 pm
49. GumbyTheCat

    Looks like the tip of the Mother Alien tube the eggs squirt out of. Where’s Ripley when we need her?

    November 29, 2010 at 12:48 pm
50. Michael Swanson

    @37. ggremlin

    “Reminds me of ‘Howard the Duck’”

    I’ll thank you not to remind me of Howard the Duck. Ever. *shudders at horrid memories of duck nipples*

    November 29, 2010 at 12:58 pm
51. Captn Tommy

    Jon Hanford #20 – unfortunately Wyoming is only a govenment coverup for a Survey mistake of the 1850′s, which of course is now sacrosanct in history. So, Devils Tower is actually in Wyoming County, Pa. (obviously a sceptic would doubt this but who listens to sceptics)

    Phil: This picture reminds me of the discription by “Doc” Smith in his Lensman series “Triplanitary” from 1934, of the first test of the “Inertialess Drive” which when engaged threw the ship off the earth at such force a vacummn was created that sucked everything not secured off the ground for a distance around the launch point. (Luckily the people were well back or in blockhouses so no lives were lost) Perhaps Area 51 is in Montana, or is it Wyoming????

    Captn Tommy

    November 29, 2010 at 1:49 pm
52. jen

    what are you talking bout, guys? it’s obviously the other side of the wormhole from Contact. can’t you see jodi foster whirling around in the clouds? her hair’s all over the place.

    November 29, 2010 at 2:50 pm
53. swanberg

    Yeah, spectacular picture, but fairly common weather in Montana (I”m from the Great Falls mentioned above in the joke). More than once I’ve looked up and seen things that look exactly like an alien from ID4 just about to emerge from the clouds, a la:

    http://dailycontributor.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/independence-day-cloud-moscow.jpg

    One of the things I miss living in the Midwest is being able to see the weather coming…

    November 29, 2010 at 3:34 pm
54. Lugosi

    Why does the word ‘sphincter’ come to mind?

    November 29, 2010 at 4:37 pm
55. MontanaITGuy

    “I wonder if there are jobs in Montana?”

    Actually, if you’re looking for an IT job, they’re hiring at mine.

    http://www.svh-mt.org/body.cfm?id=52

    Just go under St Vincent Healthcare -> Information Systems

    November 29, 2010 at 5:47 pm
56. Gary Ansorge

    57. MontanaITGuy

    As I recall, skiis and snow mobiles are a useful adjunct to large, four wheel drive vehicles in Montana. Useful that is, until the chinook winds blow all the snow away.

    Spent 3 years there in the early to mid ’70s. -45 degrees F(with a wind chill of -65) was a bit much for me. I’m originally from L.A..

    Gary 7

    November 29, 2010 at 7:54 pm
57. mason

    i was born in montana, in missoula, this isnt uncommon, there are 4 distinct weather streams that converge in montana…if it werent for the rockies thered be more intense tornadic activity there than in missouri or kansas…fun stuff!

    November 29, 2010 at 10:12 pm
58. Chuck

    Transdimensional spaceworms FTW!!!

    November 30, 2010 at 12:58 am
59. Michel

    I would shoot it.

    November 30, 2010 at 5:42 am
60. gia

    Me neither.

    November 30, 2010 at 6:49 am
61. zoomdaddy

    Naw, that’s clearly one of those localized atmospheric holes, a la “The Day after Tomorrow”! It’s obviously a frost cloud, duh!!

    November 30, 2010 at 8:08 am
62. Merijn Vogel

    Wow, I want to be the one taking that picture! Man that’s a frakking awesome cloud, it’s now my desktop background.

    November 30, 2010 at 1:40 pm
63. Joseph G

    Reminds me of something out of Half Life 2. Some Combine portal opening up or something

    November 30, 2010 at 2:04 pm
64. Joseph G

    I love weather. I used to want to be a research meteorologist. I’m also a bit of an aviation buff with aspirations of pilot-hood, so this sort of thing is a bit awe-inspiring in a very up-close-and-personal way, as well
    In fact, I think I’m interested in weather specifically because I’m interested in aviation. It’s not very smart to study the latter and not the former…

    November 30, 2010 at 2:08 pm
65. Brian Too

    Reminds me of the ship scene in Cocoon. Or possibly the ship scene in Starman.

    November 30, 2010 at 6:05 pm
66. Messier Tidy Upper

    Well this was the Astronomy Picture of the Day for Nov. 30th – see :

    http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap101130.html

    Or just scroll up to the top again!

    December 2, 2010 at 8:55 am
67. Al

    You’re all wrong! Its the black hole the Narda came out of! Call both Kirks!

    December 25, 2010 at 6:45 pm
68. Bill

    its called a supercell…but, yeah pretty crazy looking. i don’t understand why montana is now unlivable…i’d rather live in montana over everywhere in tornado alley. ESPECIALLY TEXAS. cept for austin.

    February 2, 2011 at 9:18 pm
69. Steven Colyer

    That’s no transdimensional spaceworm, that’s a Sky Jellyfish! :-p

    Here’s hoping that house belongs to a climate denier. Since it’s Montana, it probably does.

    Interesting factoid about Montana (possibly only to me): Montana became the last of America’s 50 states to outlaw drinking while driving … in 2009. You read that right, I hope. I didn’t say drinking AND driving. I said drinking WHILE driving.

    An opponent of the new law remarked: “What’s the big deal? Our state is 700 miles long and it takes a while to get between two places. A six-pack in the front seat helps to break up the monotony.”

    Impressive. It’s impressive that such a person uses big-boy words like monotony.

    February 3, 2011 at 2:37 am
70. Grizzled Adams

    I thought it always looked like when Dick Cheney came “Home”

    February 22, 2011 at 7:20 pm
71. al

    Worm wholes are trillions of times smaller than an atom. and they’re everywhere

    June 9, 2011 at 6:44 pm
72. Sarah

    Why do I get the feeling that Dick Cheney called down this storm?

    June 29, 2011 at 12:08 pm
73. Barbara

    Montana!!! I live in Montana!!!

    July 18, 2011 at 8:01 pm
74. mrsleep

    Better storm sign than worm sign.

    July 29, 2011 at 11:40 am
75. Prathu Khairnar

    Woah!!! that looks Cool!

    feel sorry for mother earth which is being affected directly below the storm

    August 15, 2011 at 4:15 am
76. Cynthia Moreno

    Holy crap! I would absolutely love to live there! Oh just the thrill of the storms, its all I need, I guess I can be an adrenaline junkie at times!

    April 15, 2012 at 6:14 pm
77. Bill Soltis

    Come on people this is an easy one….it’s God watering that tree in the lower right corner….how did you all miss that?

    August 30, 2012 at 3:17 pm