Paraglider’s Ears Nearly Fall off in a Cumulonimbus Cloud
Many of our members have been in touch to tell us about Ewa Wisnierska, the German paragliding champion, who had the misfortune of being sucked up into the heart of an enormous Cumulonimbus storm cloud. They all pointed out that the incident had much in common with that of Colonel William Rankin in the 1950s, described in The Cloudspotter’s Guide, in which he had to eject from his jet as he was flying over the top of a storm cloud, only to have the horrific experience of falling down through the middle of it.
Wisnierska’s ordeal happend near Manilla, in Australia’s New South Wales, on 14 February 2007, while she was training for the upcoming Paragliding World Championships. She was sucked towards the enormous Cumulonimbus by the strong air currents that flow up the centre of these storm clouds, and lost consciousness as she disappeared into the middle of it, rising at a rate of 20 meters per second. Her equipment recorded that she was sucked up to an altitude of 32,612ft, higher than Mount Everest.
Wisnierska was unconscious in the cloud for more than 40 minutes, during which time she was battered by hailstones the size of oranges and subjected to temperatures of -40 to -50 ˚C.
He Zhongpin, a Chinese paraglider, was also sucked into the cloud and, tragically, was found frozen to death 75 kilometers from his launch location.
Suffering from severe frostbite, Wisnierska nearly lost her ears in the ordeal. “From the theory, I knew the chances to survive are almost zero,” she later told the press, “I knew I can only have luck, I can’t do anything – and I got it.”
Read an article on the incident from The Age newspaper:
www.theage.com.au
More Cloud News
07/28/2010
Cumulus from 20,000ft
Jamie Costello, Head of Physics at Sutton Grammar School and Cloud Appreciation Society member sent in this image of Cumulus at 20,000ft.
The photograph was taken by a group of children taking… more
07/01/2010
Why cloud collecting can be good for you
Karen Kingston, author of ‘Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui’, recently posted a blog entitled “Why cloud collecting can be good for you”. She describes the passtime as “etherically refreshing and psychologically uplifting” – a… more
06/22/2010
Radio 4’s “So You Want to be a Scientist”
Radio 4’s ‘So You Want to be a Scientist’ NLC (Noctilucent Cloud) project brings together amateur Welsh scientist John Rowlands, 41, based on Anglesey, with The University of Bath’s Professor Nick Mitchell and… more
06/21/2010
Research into Holes ‘Punched Through’ Clouds by Aircraft
Jets and turboprop aircraft leave unusually shaped clouds in their wakes. (Credit: Alan Sealls)
06/11/2010
US National Weather Service Acknowledges Asperatus
Undulatus Asperatus was first identified last year by Cloud Appreciation Society founder, Gavin Pretor-Pinney and is currently being researched by Reading University.
The US National Weather Service writes:
“Undulatus asperatus (or… more
06/04/2010
A Rainy Offering
Kristin Nielsen has drawn our attention to this wonderfully relaxing website. Add gentle rain to your environment. Enhance your music. Sleep Better. Relax.
Listen here and play your favourite music simultaneously… more
06/04/2010
Cloud Watching Day
Sunday 6 June – 1.30pm to 4.30pm
Bruce Castle Museum invites you to join them for this fun and celebratory afternoon to launch the film of Luke Howard and the Clouds (kindly supported by… more
05/07/2010
Sky Car
After
Before
04/09/2010
Reach for the Skies
Amateur photographer Mike Davies from Cadoxton Neath, has always been interested in photography since a very young child, and loves to take photographs of weather, the wilder the better, but he also looks… more
04/08/2010
Cloud Structures
Cloud enthusiast John Rudolph has brought to our attention this wonderful website showing a collection of cloud structures from space. It also has detailed information about the formations.
The website states that… more
04/08/2010
The Cloud Hoppers Paramotor Club
Cloud Appreciation Society Member, Brian Tunnard would like to extend an invitation to other members & anyone else who likes flying stuff, to join his newly formed Cloud Hoppers Forum on Yahoo. It’s free, and… more
04/06/2010
Luke Howard exhibition at Bruce Castle Museum
This exhibition at the Bruce Castle Museum, Lordship Lane, London, N17 8NU tells the life and achievements of Tottenham Local Hero Luke Howard, the Father of Meteorology and the Namer of the Clouds… more
04/01/2010
A History of the Sky
A History of the Sky is a dynamic, time-lapse visualization of the sky for an entire year.
Time-lapse movies give us a glimpse of events that are continually occurring around us, but far too… more
02/02/2010
Sundown Skies/Clouds
Patti Miller, member number 11465 wrote to us recently. In the 1960’s she was the Founder of her own cloud appreciation society. Membership consisted of herself and her sister, although she also claimed… more
12/22/2009
Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust acquires coastal strip
Cloud lovers in Lincolnshire will be pleased to know that The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust has made a significant step in conserving the wild coast of Lincolnshire with the acquisition of land near Anderby Creek… more
