What is the Scary Looking Cloud Club?

The Scary Looking Cloud Club (SLC Club) serves as a resource for quality information and images of scary looking clouds which are not associated with true tornadoes or true funnel clouds.

Typically, SLCs are reported as false tornado and/or false funnel cloud reports and relayed to County 911 Communication Centers and/or the National Weather Service (NWS). Our goal is to minimize these false reports which create an additional work load for 911 Dispatchers and the NWS forecasters while educating everyone about severe weather. We have a wonderful collection of images from all over the world and accept submissions from people like you!

While conducting severe weather spotter classes between 2000 and 2009, National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM), Rusty Kapela, coined the phrase "scary looking cloud." Magically, this phrase became very popular in the classes! Spotters were asked to e-mail their picture of best examples of SLCs for use in class slide sets. In 2009 Rusty decided to formally start the SLC Club as a way to more formally cement the SLC concept.  A SLC web page was constructed on the Milwaukee/Sullivan NWS web site.  Many wonderful photos have been submitted to help in the effort to inform and educate everyone!

In September 2013, Rusty retired, but took administration of the SLC Club with him. Due to security reasons National Weather Service Forecast Offices don't link directly to the SLC Club, but some amateur radio clubs link to the SLC Club web site.

How Can I Join?

Simple! Submit a photo of any SLCs that you have taken to: slcclub@yahoo.com

The SLCC photo gallery does not include pictures of tornadoes, funnel clouds, or rotating wall clouds.

We will post only the best ones. Hope you understand. Any picture you submit automatically becomes part of the public domain - for free use by anyone. We will give you credit, as seen in the gallery pictures. It may take a couple weeks before you see your picture(s) posted.