Meteorologists have discovered a new natural phenomenon - atmospheric lakes

Scientists from the University of Miami, USA, have noticed and described unique storms slowly drifting over the western Indian Ocean. This phenomenon was decided to be called atmospheric lakes. Earlier, meteorologists talked about atmospheric rivers, which differ in the precipitation of a large amount of precipitation when colliding with mountainous terrain, Phys. org reports.

Atmospheric lakes originate in the Indo-Pacific region and carry moisture to arid areas on the coast of East Africa.

The phenomenon is formed from water vapor fibers concentrated to form rain, but without an air vortex, like most storms. Unlike atmospheric rivers, lakes are smaller in size and separate from their source when moving towards the coast.

According to satellite data, 17 atmospheric lakes that existed for more than 6 days near the equator were discovered in 5 years. Atmospheric lakes that have moved away from the equator sometimes develop into tropical cyclones.

Moisture from such a lake would form a puddle several centimeters deep and about 1 thousand km in diameter. This amount of water can bring significant rainfall in the arid lowlands of East African countries.