A Sea of Spinning Clouds

Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory A Sea of Spinning Clouds Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth Human Dimensions Natural Events Oceans Remote Sensing Technology Snow & Ice Water More Content Collections Global Maps World of Change Articles Notes from the Field Blog Earth Matters Blog Blue Marble: Next Generation EO Kids Mission: Biomes About About Us Subscribe 🛜 RSS Contact Us Search Von Kármán vortex streets appear on the lee side of Peter I Island in this image acquired with the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 on February 11, 2026. NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison Over the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, winds can whip around the globe relatively unimpeded by land. Intrepid sailors termed these southern latitudes the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties, and Screaming Sixties on account of the strong prevailing winds. When those winds encounter a barrier like an island, the disruption in airflow can be beautiful. One impediment, shown here, is remote Peter I Island. This ice-cloaked volcano lies at 68.86 degrees south latitude in the Bellingshausen Sea, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) off the coast of West Antarctica and more than 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) from Cape Horn, Chile. On an austral summer day in 2026, the Landsat 8 satellite captured this image of von Kármán vortex streets downwind of the island. These counterrotating spirals form as flowing air is deflected, slows, and spins into eddies. A stiff, but perhaps not quite “screaming,” wind was likely blowing that day. Wind speeds typically need to be 18 to 54 kilometers (11 to 34 miles) per hour for vortices to form. With stronger gales, the eddies cannot maintain their shape. The following day, vortex streets appeared within a complex array of cloud types near the island. Where the clouds parted around the island, some of its icy edifice became visible to the satellite. A 100-met