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Scud clouds aren’t dangerous clouds in and of themselves, but because they form when warm air from outside of a thunderstorm is lifted up by its updraft, seeing scud clouds is a good indication that a cumulonimbus cloud (and hence, a thunderstorm) is nearby.
Their low height above ground, ragged appearance, and presence beneath cumulonimbus and nimbostratus clouds mean scud clouds are often mistaken for funnel clouds. But there’s one way to tell the two apart -—look for rotation. Scud do move when caught in the outflow (downdraft) or inflow (updraft) regions but that motion typically isn’t rotation.
Source: Means, Tiffany. “Clouds That Spell Severe Weather.” ThoughtCo, Aug. 1, 2021, thoughtco.com/clouds-that-spell-severe-weather-4089934.
