Why does this cloud look so strange? Actually, pictured above are several clouds [ http://seaborg.nmu.…] all stacked up into one striking lenticular cloud [ http://sa1.star.ucl…]. Normally, air moves much more horizontally than it does vertically. Sometimes, however, such as when wind comes off of a mountain [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] or a hill [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], relatively strong vertical oscillations take place as the air stabilizes. The dry air at the top of an oscillation [ http://snrs.unl.edu…] may be quite stratified in moisture content, and hence forms clouds [ http://www.stemnet.…] at each layer where the air saturates with moisture. The result can be a lenticular cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] with a strongly layered appearance. The above picture [ http://vortex.plymo…] was taken in 1999 over Plymouth, New Hampshire [ http://www.state.nh…], USA [ http://www.cia.gov/…]. The same lenticular cloud [ http://vortex.plymo…] also looks strange when photographed from 30 kilometers away [ http://vortex.plymo…].
Explanation
Why does this cloud look so strange? Actually, pictured above are several clouds [ http://seaborg.nmu.…] all stacked up into one striking lenticular cloud [ http://sa1.star.ucl…]. Normally, air moves much more horizontally than it does vertically. Sometimes, however, such as when wind comes off of a mountain [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] or a hill [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], relatively strong vertical oscillations take place as the air stabilizes. The dry air at the top of an oscillation [ http://snrs.unl.edu…] may be quite stratified in moisture content, and hence forms clouds [ http://www.stemnet.…] at each layer where the air saturates with moisture. The result can be a lenticular cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] with a strongly layered appearance. The above picture [ http://vortex.plymo…] was taken in 1999 over Plymouth, New Hampshire [ http://www.state.nh…], USA [ http://www.cia.gov/…]. The same lenticular cloud [ http://vortex.plymo…] also looks strange when photographed from 30 kilometers away [ http://vortex.plymo…].
