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Read MoreMammatus, also known as (meaning "mammary cloud" or "breast cloud"), is a meteorological term applied to a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud. The name mammatus is derived from the Latin mamma (meaning "udder" or "breast"), as some consider there is a resemblance between the characteristic shape of these clouds and the breast of a woman.
When occurring in cumulonimbus, mammatus are often indicative of a particularly strong storm or maybe even a tornadic storm. Due to the intensely sheared environment in which mammatus form, aviators are strongly cautioned to avoid mammatus.
They can spread over hundreds of miles along a line. The individual mammatus lobe average diameters of 1–3 km and lengths on average of 0.5 km. A lobe can last an average of 10 minutes, but a whole cluster of mamma can range from 15 minutes to a few hours.
They usually are composed of ice, but also can be a mixture of ice and liquid water or be composed of almost entirely liquid water. ~Taken over Havana, IL July 2010