Roll cloud also known as the Morning Glory
© Michael ButlerMichael Butler from Athol station at Blackall took this picture of a roll cloud, also known as the Morning Glory, on Saturday.
A rare cloud formation, often called the morning glory, has rolled across outback Queensland delighting locals.

Michael Butler was home at Athol station, Blackall, on Saturday morning when he looked up and saw the cloud rolling across the sky.

The morning glory is often seen in the Gulf of Carpentaria in September but is almost never sighted over inland areas.

Mr Butler said in 16 years on his Blackall property, he had never witnessed anything like it.

"You see some unusual clouds in the storm season with the cold fronts but nothing like that," he said.

"This was just unusual, for being such a beautiful day, and this cloud just coming out of nowhere.


Ashleigh Bielenberg was nearly 200 kilometres away when she looked up and saw the roll cloud in the distance.

Like Mr Butler, she immediately reached for her camera.

"It was like nothing you'd ever seen," she said.

"I worked up north for a while and you'd see stuff like that with the monsoon, but never out here."

Ashleigh Bielenberg was in a paddock in Ilfracombe when she saw this roll cloud on Saturday.
© Ashleigh BielenbergAshleigh Bielenberg was in a paddock in Ilfracombe when she saw this roll cloud on Saturday.
Debbie Searles and her husband were driving from Barcaldine to Longreach when they saw the roll cloud.

She took a picture from a distance but said as they drove further they actually went right under it.

"It was even more impressive as we got closer and then [drove] under it," she said.

"Mother Nature always amazes me."