An old “shelf cloud” video from Ukraine is falsely shared as from Delhi NCR.

A video (here and here) going viral on social media shows massive cloud formations known as shelf clouds, which usually form at the leading edge of thunderstorms when cooler storm air collides with warm, humid air and lifts it. The video is being claimed to be from Gurugram, NCR Delhi. Let’s find out the truth behind it.

The archived post can be found here.

Claim: The video shows a rare shelf cloud formation over Gurugram, NCR Delhi.

Fact: The video is not from Gurugram. It shows a shelf cloud formation over Lviv, Ukraine, in August 2021. Several Ukrainian media outlets, including Zaxid.net, reported the phenomenon at the time. While a few reports mentioned a shelf cloud moving towards Delhi NCR, the viral video is unrelated to that event. Hence, the claim is FALSE.

To find the truth, we did a reverse image search on Google and found the same video uploaded on a Ukrainian YouTube channel Blitz.Tv on 20 August 2021. It was captioned “Is the apocalypse coming? A frightening cloud is looming over Ukraine.” In the description, it was clarified that the atmospheric phenomenon, called a shelf cloud, occurred in Lviv. This indicates that the video is from Lviv, Ukraine, not Gurugram, India.

Another result led us to the same video uploaded by another well known Ukrainian media outlet ZAXID.NET on 17 August 2021. It was captioned “Lviv covered by a rare shelf cloud.” The description stated that on the morning of 17 August, a rain cloud moved over Lviv, triggering a severe thunderstorm. Weather forecaster Natalka Didenko explained that this cloud was likely a subspecies of cumulonimbus clouds. While cumulonimbus clouds are common in Ukraine, the shelf cloud phenomenon is considered rare. This confirms that the video is from Ukraine, not India.

Further research led us to several reports from media outlets (here and here), including BBC Weather, about this very incident in Lviv, Ukraine.

Additionally, a keyword search for any shelf cloud incident in NCR Delhi/Gurgaon showed a few reports mentioning a cloud moving towards Delhi, but the viral video has no connection with it. Evidence confirms that the video is from Ukraine, not Delhi NCR.

To sum up, an old shelf cloud video from Ukraine is falsely shared as from Delhi NCR.