Was That A Funnel Cloud In The Sky At The Chihuahuas Game?
What happens when El Paso gets a lot of rain. Well, we get crazy flooding almost instantaneously because this is the desert and when the ground is dry it can't absorb a lot of rain quickly. Just browse through El Paso social media and you can find hundreds if not thousands of videos of crazy flooding and people trying to do the absolute wrong thing by trying to drive through the raging rivers that El Paso streets become during our rainy season.
What we usually don't see during our summer monsoon season is crazy clouds, at least not as crazy as the cloud that hung over the downtown El Paso ballpark on Thursday night. The rain hadn't started yet but the Chihuahuas had already tarped the field to protect it from any rain when this video was taken. It looks like a sideways tornado but if you notice, there isn't any rotation to it. Rotation or not it is a pretty impressive sight.
Turns out it wasn't a funnel cloud and no one was in danger. These types of clouds are called roll clouds and even though they look like something that could be potentially dangerous, they are not known to produce tornadoes. The most commonly form along the leading edge or outflow boundary of some thunderstorms. They usually show up before a dangerous or strong thunderstorm, as was the case on Thursday night.
We are still expecting a lot of rain possibilities and with it flooding and the chance to take and post more amazing cloud footage on social media. Just remember to stay safe and don't drive through flooded intersections. You might make it through or you might end up on social media with everyone commenting about what a bonehead you are for doing that.