Funnel-Shaped Cloud Over Twin Cities of No Concern for National Weather Service
Oct. 13—A funnel-shaped cloud was seen Wednesday over the Twin Cities, though it most likely wasn't anything to be concerned about, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle told The Chronicle.
A short video and photos of the cloud were shared Wednesday to Facebook and social media. NWS Meteorologist Justin Pullin said while the weather service didn't pick anything up on its radar system, the cloud's shape was interesting.
"(The video is) actually not long enough to see if there was any strong rotation in the feature, but certainly it was an interesting looking cloud," Pullin said, adding later: "We get a lot of low-hanging, funky-looking clouds here in the Pacific Northwest."
The phenomenon was likely a low-hanging scud cloud shaped by showers that came through the area Wednesday. Pullin said, to an untrained eye, a scud cloud can often be misidentified as a funnel.
"We're glad the public is looking out and sending us the photo, but it wasn't anything to prompt warning here at our office," he said.
According to NWS Seattle, showers will continue in the Centralia-Chehalis area through the weekend with mostly cloudy conditions.
