Imagine looking to the sky and watching a giant rotating UFO entering our atmosphere. A giant disc parting the clouds. Surrounded by blinking lights or lightning. It would look just like a scene out of the popular sci fi flick "Independence Day." But, what if that UFO wasn't an interplanetary visitor? What if the giant rotating disk was just a gnarly storm cloud?

For anyone who has ever seen a "super cell" it can be fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Even though a supercell is simply a large thunderstorm. It is a spectacle to say the least.

According to weather.gov

On the thunderstorm spectrum, supercells are the least common type of thunderstorm, but they have a high propensity to produce severe weather, including damaging winds, very large hail, and sometimes weak to violent tornadoes.  What makes a supercell unique from all other thunderstorm types is that it contains a deep and persistent rotating updraft called a mesocyclone.

Even though this is a rare form of a thunderstorm, eastern Montana is no stranger to a supercell. In fact, Alec Baldwin was recently spotted in Billings filming a feature film about supercells.

Just this past week, a GIANT supercell was spotted in the skies above Malta, MT. On June 9th, an "alien mothership" invaded north central Montana. Experts say that even though the supercell may be spectacular to look at, you wouldn't want to stick around for long. The extreme updrafts can cause some serious damage, and you should immediately seek shelter.

 

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