But much to the relief of Panama City residents, this breath-taking series of photographs shows a natural phenomenon far less destructive - waves of clouds.

Helicopter pilot JR Hott captured these breathtaking images, which show the low-lying haze swooping over high-rise buildings down the coast.

KATU reports Mr Hott captured the images hovering over the Gulf of Mexico after one of his pilots came in from a flight on Sunday.

Before his chopper could be engulfed by the heavy fog, Mr Hott flew up to capture the wave-like formations.

'We jumped into helicopter and took off,' he said. But he didn't have long to descend. 'Within a few minutes after we landed, it covered up the helipad,' the seasoned pilot said.

According to Dr Greg Forbes, of Weather.com, the phenomenon occurred as a result of warm, moist air forming 'just right' as it blew into the coastline, forming a low-lying fog that dissipates as the air cools with altitude.

Dr Forbes explained on the website: 'You see the clouds forming off shore, as the winds from south to north push them toward and then up over the high rises as the air rises and reaches its crest.

'And then sinks back down and lowers the relative humidity and the clouds dissipate.'

'The other thing that's happening is with friction, the air slows down as it just begins to move onshore,' Dr Forbes explained.

'That gives it a little extra convergence and an upward forcing of the air to rise. But it must be that relative humidity needing to be just right that... explains why we don't see this kind of a picture every day.'

Mr Hott, posted the images on Facebook, and they've since swept the internet, receiving an overwhelming response.

'Oh my God, we've got thousands of shares and thousands of likes,' he told KATU. 'It's amazing to me how this thing has gone nuts,' he said.

News Source: Daily Mail

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