6

Murmurations

When thousands of starlings take to the sky at the same time, that's known as a "murmuration." It's the perfect name, because these real-life birdnadoes could very well cause your heart to skip a few beats.

Tanya Hart/flickrLooks like your remaining time in Kansas is limited.

The weirdness doesn't stop there. These little feathered shapeshifters evidently hit their creative peak when they're targeted by birds of prey, in which case they've been known to morph into something surprisingly logical ... if a bit creepy.

5

UFO Clouds

Clouds can take on many forms, yet for some reason all we ever see is Gary Busey's smiling face. Perhaps that's more of a personal problem. But when you combine hilltops that are cone-shaped and symmetrical with an isolated mountain under the right circumstances, you end up with a scene straight out of Independence Day:

4

Upward Lightning

Every once in a while, a lightning bolt decides to break out of its rut by striking upward for a change.

This is actually the fault of skyscrapers. When a normal strike occurs in the vicinity of a tall building, it can sometimes initiate a positive upward leader, sending a bolt right back where it was supposed to come from.

"No YOU listen, Zeus!"

3

Walls Of Sea Smoke

Wanna see the visual embodiment of a classic rock song? No? No one wants that, because it would probably be visibly greasy? Well, here's some smoke on the water anyway. Look, it's even this nice violet color. A purple haze, if you will ...

2

Cloud Tsunamis

A cloud tsunami sounds like something a Care Bear would surf, but it's a real phenomena:

1

Rain Bombs

If that's close to what you'd imagine an F6 tornado would look like, you're not all that far off the mark. What some call "rain bombs" have been described as "tornadoes in reverse." They don't only have a problematic appearance; they can really ruin your outdoor plans if you're not accustomed to air and water blasting out of the sky at you at speeds of over 115 miles per hour.

These come about when a dry patch of air gets in the way of a thunderstorm and sucks away some of the storm's moisture, which is a great way to piss off a storm. Below the storm cloud, the air begins to cool, eventually becoming denser than the surrounding air. The cool air drops into warmer air, starts to accelerate, and next thing you know, you're in the middle of Neptune's temper tantrum.

They're also pretty hard to predict, so the next time you think a picnic sounds like a good idea, maybe just stay the hell inside. Forever.

If a weekly comic about conjoined twins who can't stand each other sounds the slightest bit amusing to you, head on over to Yingandyan.com.

That sea smoke looks a lot like ... Purple Rain, doesn't it?/b>

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For more, check out 21 Biblical Weather Events That Actually Happened and 20 Real Weather Events That Put Science Fiction To Shame.

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