Weather Watchers Puzzled By Donut-shaped Cloud Phenomenon

Michigan has been known to see some crazy weather throughout the year, but every once in a while, we will get a radar reading that is completely baffling.

Recently, a radar reading that spanned Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana revealed a cloud formation in the shape of a giant donut. A video was uploaded on Facebook, which seemed to be a screen recording of the WWMT weather app showing the strange phenomenon.:

What do YOU think caused this donut radar reading?

If you thought the still image was strange, wait until you see it in motion. This is the video of the 125-mile wide radar ring that spanned Indiana, Michigan & Ohio — actually moving with the clouds for 25 minutes (8:49–9:14 PM). A normal Doppler radar ring spans just a few miles.

What Could Have Caused This?

One person in the comment section claims to know why this happened, allegedly from someone who is a 14-year Air Force weather forecaster:

You're looking at a phenomenon that combines ducting, or radar reflecting off a temperature inversion, with a scan mode change, while the wsr-88d operator is trying to get the best set of returns for the circumstances. During the syncing process, there sometimes is a shift in the location of the center of the scans on the map. This is why you're seeing the green concentric bands. - Casey F.

Have you ever seen a formation like this on your radar before? This seems like a pretty wild thing to see without an explanation from meteorologists. Like, if I'm seeing a weather donut, I'm gonna need answers.