Lenticular Magic

My friend Scot Stewart shot the video and photo below on 2/13/2022.

These types of “spaceship clouds” are called lenticular clouds. They can also be called standing wave clouds. They’re created and maintained by strong winds aloft over mountainous terrain.

I’ve talked a lot about lenticular clouds in past mountain weather safety courses. Typically they are a strong indication of strong summit-level winds. They can mean turbulence to pilots.

I snapped this photo on March 10, 2014:

Formation

They form through a unique combination of mountainous terrain, wind flow, and atmospheric stability.