Check out this image captured Thursday by NASA’s Aqua satellite. See that swirling vortex, complete with a clear eye? It has formed just off the coast of San Clemente Island to the west of San Diego.

Here’s what it looked like to an F-18 fighter pilot flying directly over the feature:

My fighter pilot buddy, boots, took this pic out the window of his F-18 of Von Karman Vorticity creating an eddy off the coast of San Diego Feb 1st. Great shot of a cool phenomenon I’ve just learned a lot about! @NWSSanDiego can’t say I’ve seen this in Iowa before

This is a classic von Kármán vortex, a cyclonic swirl of clouds that can develop when winds are diverted around a big obstacle such an island. The v