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A turkey tower may sound like something on your Thanksgiving dinner plate, but in fact it’s a type of cloud! It’s a slang term used for describing an individual cloud tower that develops vertically, but then falls apart very quickly.

The sudden development of these clouds form from small cumulus clouds (the classic white puffy clouds). The sudden development of these vertical fingers could indicate the cap is breaking. This is an indication that there is instability. The cap acts as a lid in the atmosphere, once there is enough instability that the cap is broken, thunderstorm clouds are able to grow in height and storms develop. Turkey towers can also lead to turbulence in the area.

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J​ennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.