Known as von Kármán vortices, the remarkable curling patterns can form nearly anywhere that fluid flow is disturbed by an object.
Published Jun 7, 2015
Chains of swirling clouds stream behind islands in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Published Aug 13, 2017
Winds flowing around Heard Island in the southwestern Indian Ocean shaped the clouds into a line of spirals.
Published May 8, 2016
Von Kármán vortices make another appearance near the Canary Islands.
Published Jul 11, 2020
Wind flowing past an island created this spiraling cloud pattern off the coast of Greenland.
Published Apr 13, 2012
Clouds swirled in the southern Atlantic Ocean, northwest of St. Helena, in mid-November 2012.
Published Nov 25, 2012
This Valentine in the sky is the visible expression of fluid dynamics at work.
Published Feb 14, 2019
The Aqua satellite captured this image of von Kármán vortices downwind of Isla Socorro.
Published Aug 19, 2013
Clouds off the Chilean coast show a unique pattern called a “von Karman vortex street.”
Published May 30, 2000
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