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January 12, 2025 - Clouds over Africa
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A long line of fascinating clouds hovered over northern Africa in early January 2025. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of most of the long and striking cloud formation, which, in its entirety, stretched for more than 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) from Chad (west) to Saudi Arabia (east).
The stunning cloud formation is made up of cirrus clouds, which are high-level clouds that are typically thin and white in appearance, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They align in what is known as a transverse cirrus band (TCB), which the American Meteorological Society defines as “irregularly spaced band-like cirrus clouds that form nearly perpendicular to a jet stream axis.”
Although beautiful and delicate in appearance TCBs are often associated with intense weather on the edge of a storm or a front. They can also occur at the edge of a large thunderstorm system, or perpendicular to a jet stream, or even along the perimeter of cyclones. They also mark an area of turbulent air that can cause difficulty for aircraft flying across the region.
TCBs also form along African Easterly Waves (AEWs), a type of weather system that forms over northern Africa during the summer and moves east to west towards the Atlantic Ocean. AEWs also tend to bring rainstorms and kick up dust. While the cloud formation looks similar to AEWs, given the time of year, lack of reports of rain along the cloud formation, and lack of dust, this particular TCB is most likely associated with a high-level frontal system.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 1/9/2025
Resolutions:
1km (991.6 KB), 500m (1.4 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
A long line of fascinating clouds hovered over northern Africa in early January 2025. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of most of the long and striking cloud formation, which, in its entirety, stretched for more than 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) from Chad (west) to Saudi Arabia (east).
The stunning cloud formation is made up of cirrus clouds, which are high-level clouds that are typically thin and white in appearance, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They align in what is known as a transverse cirrus band (TCB), which the American Meteorological Society defines as “irregularly spaced band-like cirrus clouds that form nearly perpendicular to a jet stream axis.”
Although beautiful and delicate in appearance TCBs are often associated with intense weather on the edge of a storm or a front. They can also occur at the edge of a large thunderstorm system, or perpendicular to a jet stream, or even along the perimeter of cyclones. They also mark an area of turbulent air that can cause difficulty for aircraft flying across the region.
TCBs also form along African Easterly Waves (AEWs), a type of weather system that forms over northern Africa during the summer and moves east to west towards the Atlantic Ocean. AEWs also tend to bring rainstorms and kick up dust. While the cloud formation looks similar to AEWs, given the time of year, lack of reports of rain along the cloud formation, and lack of dust, this particular TCB is most likely associated with a high-level frontal system.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 1/9/2025
Resolutions:
1km (991.6 KB), 500m (1.4 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
