The encyclopedia says this about roll clouds:

“A roll cloud is a low, horizontal, tube-shaped, and relatively rare type of arcus cloud. …Roll clouds usually appear to be ‘rolling’ about a horizontal axis…Coastal roll clouds have been seen over California, the English Channel, Shetland Islands, Lithuania, Eastern Russia, other maritime regions of Australia, off the Mexican coast in the Sea of Cortez, Uruguay, in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Ontario, and Campos dos Goytacazes and Coronel Vivida bay in Brazil.”

Rare roll cloud about to roll over the Hatteras Lighthouse on the Outer Banks of North Carolina

And now they have been seen in North Carolina on the Outer Banks.

I took the pictures of the roll cloud while on Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It was the first time I had seen one, and it was amazingly beautiful.  But I did not give it much importance at the time because I assumed it was something not that unusual for the area.  That was until I started to do research on it.  I searched for other pictures of them on the Outer Banks.  Not only could I find no other pictures on the Outer Banks, I could not find pictures of a roll cloud in the state of North Carolina.  I began to realize just how rare they are.

A rare roll cloud passes over Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina

I was taking pictures in a wetlands / marsh area not too far from the Hatteras Lighthouse.  It had been a rainy night and morning, and the rain had just begun to taper off.  Off in the distant west, I could see what I thought was another thunderstorm approaching, so I hurried my work thinking the rain would soon begin again.

But as the “storm” got closer, I could see it was not a thunderstorm after all, but rather a giant rolling tubular cloud that stretched from horizon to horizon.  It was a wonder of a sight.  When it got close, I swung my camera around and began taking pictures of it.  It was a very low-lying cloud, and when it rolled directly over my head, something unusual happened.  Suddenly the winds picked up.  Not like normal, but like somebody had flipped a light switch.  One moment there was little to no wind, the next there was a stong sustained wind with higher gusts.  It was definitely associated with the roll cloud because it began as it rolled directly overhead.

There was no rain associated with the roll cloud, just the wind.  It rolled over my head continuing its journey East.  As it hit the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean, which was probably only a few hundred yards away from where I was working, it seemed to begin losing its tubular structure.  I have pictures of that, too, and may publish them at a later date.

It was not a dramatic event as one would associate with violent weather.  However, the fact that it was such a rare event is what prompted me to publish the pictures and this article.  I feel blessed to have experienced such a relatively rare event.  I hope you have the opportunity to see one, too.
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