Shelf Cloud, Mornington Peninsula

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO

This once in a decade rolling shelf cloud certainly caused a commotion as it passed over the Mornington Peninsula on Thursday 2nd December 2021. Unlike the destructive storms a few week earlier, this weather front had plenty of people in awe of its beauty. It was literally like a scene from the movie Armageddon. One minute the storm was nowhere to be seen (other than the rain radar that I’d been tracking all afternoon), the next minute it turned up with tremendous force, coming across the bay from the west with 100km/h winds. I was in the carpark at Oliver’s Hill, along with many other bystanders. We marvelled at the size of the cloud, how low it was to the bay, how high it passed over us so close and how fortunate we were to witness such an awesome spectacle. As soon as it arrived, it moved on and left us all wondering what had just happened!