Thursday’s storms left behind an unbelievable display of mammatus clouds

In the wake of the vigorous thunderstorms that swept through Loudoun and Montgomery counties Thursday evening, curious bubbly clouds filled the dusk sky.

They were mammatus — stunning pouch-like, bulbous clouds that hang menacingly from a layer of mid-level clouds.

These were some of the most well-defined, picturesque mammatus we’ve ever seen in the region.