Mammatus Protrusion

A concentrated area of mammatus clouds appear to protrude out in a cluster in this view looking southwest from the grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This image was captured around 3:45 PM, Sunday, May 22, 2011. The parent storm, of which these mammatus formations were part of, was most intense at this moment just south of the town of Swisher, about 17 miles to the southwest. Cloud tops there reached 55,000 feet. Radar images showed a lavender color at that location suggesting a large hail core. This storm was part of a larger system that produced the EF5 tornado that ravaged Joplin, Missouri about two hours later.