You may occasionally look up at a thunderstorm and see a ragged, low-hanging cloud that seems ominous and may even look like a funnel cloud or tornado. If you see this in the summer on the Gulf Coast, since there just isn't enough wind moving around in the low levels of the atmosphere, chances are that you’re looking at what is called a scud cloud.

Scud clouds are fragments of cloud that form below a thunderstorm when moist air quickly cools and condenses. Unlike funnel clouds or tornadoes, they have no rotation or organization. They can appear dramatic—with gnarly appendages under the storm—but they are harmless.