Eye of the storm: The jaw-dropping image of an enormous 'supercell' cloud




It looks like something from the film Independence Day.

But although it may seem like an alien mothership, this incredible picture is actually an impressive thunderstorm cloud known as a supercell.

Windswept dust and rain dominate the storm's centre while rings of jagged clouds surround the edge.



A flimsy tree in the foreground looks like a toy next to the magnificent natural phenomenon.

A super cell thunderstorm crosses a path and continues unabated across the plains on July 28th

The photograph is just one image from the portfolio of electrician Sean Heavey. The supercell cloud was photographed in July west of Glasgow, Montana, USA.

Mr Heavey, 34, an amateur photographer, created the jaw-dropping panoramic image by stitching together three photos from the 400 frames he took of the violent scene he witnessed in July.

It caused minor damage, and lasted several hours before moving on. Massive storm systems like this centre on mesocyclones -- rotating updrafts that deliver torrential rain and high winds.

The dangerous outbreak of weather raged for several hours and caused minor damage to local communities - while watchful Mr Heavey captured all its devastating beauty from a distance.



Taking photographs of storms for the past seven years, this year Mr Heavey and his masterpiece are up for a prestigious award from National Geographic.

Called the 'Mothership', because of the striking image's similarity to an alien space ship, the photograph was actually four years in the making.



'I have two storm chasing friends I met through my wife Toni and they've been badgering me to go out with them for that long,' explained Sean.



'I' normally rely on simply being in the right place at the right time for my photography, while I'm out working. But in July I finally decided to do it and thankfully this picture was the result. We don't usually get weather like this out in Montana, it felt like the perfect storm.



'The power was awe inspiring.'



Awe: This massive supercell shows a column of rain in the centre of thick clouds

A storm descends in July 2007 over the sleepy town of Glasgow, Montana

'I felt that if you could walk inside the rain and the wind right into the centre of the storm and stare up, then it would have been like looking into God's eye.'

Known as the 'mother of tornadoes', a mesocyclone can be up to six miles wide and can produce as many as 60 tornadoes.

These severe thunderstorms form where cold dry air meets warm moist tropical air.

The wind coming into the storm starts to swirl and forms a funnel. The air in the funnel spins faster and faster and creates a very low pressure area which sucks more air - and objects - into it.

If the cyclone runs out of wet, warm surface air, it dies out. If it does not run out of this fuel, however, the rotating cloud stretches toward the ground and may become a giant tornado.

Mr Heavey, 34, is an electrician, working in the west of the American state in a town named Glasgow.



Taking photographs of storms for the past seven years, this year Sean and his masterpiece are up for a prestigious award from National Geographic.

The super-cell storm begins to build - before unleashing a powerful torrent of rain down onto a Montana field

The belly of the thunderstorm as it begins to wreak havoc