This movie is a time-lapse of a gust frontal passage I videoed on July 10, 2008 from my home in Bartlett, TN. You’ll have to pardon some of the movement at ground level – keep your eyes on the front as it moves from northwest to southeast, passing overhead at about 5pm. My original post on this event, with still shots, can be found here.
Gust fronts are basically just outflows from thunderstorms. Air rushing down out of a thunderstorm encounters the ground and spreads out in all directions (typically). The leading edge of that rush of air is termed the “thunderstorm outflow” or “gust front.” Strong gust fronts, with a significant wind shift trailing them, can frequently look very ominous.
The time-lapse, showing about 9 minutes of video in 30 seconds, was very professionally done by my good friend ANDe, owner of Gemini Media Transfer Service in Bartlett. Check out Gemini MTS (click here for Gemini MTS on Facebook) if you want to get those old home movies or slides converted to DVD or have some professional-quality video editing done!