Parallel Lenticular Cloud over Mt. Washington

By:  Greg
January 1, 2011 11:09 pm | Category: Single Image
Parallel Lenticular Cloud over Mt. Washington

This lenticular cloud forming over Mount Washington, NH was photographed on Friday December 31, 2010 looking east at the west side of the mountain. Lenticular clouds are formed when moisture in the atmosphere is forced up and over a mountain. Slightly downwind from the mountain the moisture in the atmosphere forms clouds due to temperature and pressure changes while the moisture rises over the mountain. Yet further downwind the moisture falls and returns to its original elevation, thereby restoring the original temperature and pressure, and forcing the cloud to dissipate.

In this picture, the lenticular cloud parallels the entire Presidential Range mirroring each peak’s rise and fall, thereby giving an alternate view of the range thousands of feet above the mountains themselves. So although sometimes people see and discuss which objects or animals might be encoded in a cloud, this time we think there is a little less room for debate. Do you agree? Comment below!

Note: This picture was taken after a day of skiing high on the mountain among these clouds. To read about that adventure click here.

Related Stuff:

  1. Weather for the Weekend: August 13 – 15
  2. TR: Circumnavigation of Mount Washington
  3. Mount Washington Spring 2010
  4. Circumnavigation of Mount Washington
  5. Mount Washington Powder Harvest VIDEO — April 2010
  6. Summer Series: Weather for the weekend of August 6-8

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