Michael Smith (Member 42,796) peered up at these mamma cloud features, wondering if their bulbous forms would yield rain. Here in Little River, Victoria, Australia, in the You Yangs mountain range, precipitation is sparse.

Another group of mountains to the south-west of the You Yangs in the Great Otway National Park creates a rain shadow for this region. Moist air encountering the Otways as it moves north-east is forced upwards to pass over them, causing it to cool, condense into clouds, and precipitate. By the time it reaches the You Yangs, the air carries less moisture.

While mamma cloud features do form around Cumulonimbus storm clouds, which bring heavy showers, these cloud pouches formed in the mid-level clouds Altocumulus, at the ends of windswept virga, the diagonal streaks coming from the top left. Virga indicates rain or snow falling at higher altitudes and dissipating away before touching down. Alas, this time, Michael’s mamma passed by without a storm.