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The remote Outback settlement of Burketown in Queensland, Australia is one of the few places on Earth where cloudspotters can reliably observe the elusive roll clouds known as volutus. The distinctive formation is such a regular visitor to this Gulf Savannah region that locals have given it a name, the Morning Glory cloud. It forms when afternoon wind systems collide over Northern Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula to form a wave of air that travels through the night across the Gulf of Carpentaria. Around sunrise, the wave of air can reach the coast near Burketown, and when conditions are humid enough as the wave passes through, the cooling of the air rising and expanding at the wave crest can cause droplets to form and appear as a low-lying tube of cloud. Known more fully as a Stratocumulus volutus, the roll of cloud can be super long, sometimes as much as 600 miles (1,000 km). Morning Glory clouds travel at speeds of around 35 miles per hour (55 km/h) with strong, steady updrafts of air at their fronts. This lifting air just ahead of the clouds makes them a huge draw for glider pilots, who come to Burketown from across Australia and beyond to ride the clouds, just like regular surfers on ocean waves.Morning Glory roll cloud spotted by John Riedl over Burketown, Australia.