Cumulus clouds bubbled into heaven-scraping towers over Palm Beach County this month, heralding a common summertime occurrence in South Florida where unique geographic and atmospheric conditions combine for spectacular afternoon shows.
The darkening skies and rushing shelf cloud captured by weather enthusiast Adrian Linares in Lake Worth on July 7, were remnants of a decaying thunderstorm that had formed over the Everglades. The National Weather Service had issued severe storm warnings earlier in the day for areas deep in the interior of South Florida but the ominous clouds were mostly harmless by the time evidence of the once-raging tempest reached Palm Beach County.
Technically, the event is called an outflow boundary, where storm-cooled air falls to Earth and rushes out like an egg breaking on a sidewalk…