What kind of clouds look like flying saucers?
Lenticular clouds have been said to be mistaken for UFOs; as many of these clouds have the shape of a “flying saucer”, with a characteristic “lens” or smooth, “saucer-like” shape.
What weather do lenticular clouds bring?
Lenticular clouds are a visible sign of mountain waves in the air. However, these waves can be present beyond the clouds, and may exist even when no clouds are formed. On the ground, they can result in very strong gusty winds in one place, with still air only a few hundred metres away.
How long do lenticular clouds last?
If you live near or spend time in the mountains, you have likely seen a spectacular smooth lens-shaped cloud called a lenticular. There is no significant weather produced by a lenticular, but their presence often foretells snow in the next 24-48 hours.
Do lenticular clouds move?
They stay in the crests of the mountain waves and do not move with the wind flow. Even standing lenticular clouds are classified by their altitude.
What do lenticular clouds indicate?
Lenticular clouds indicate great instability in that layer of the atmosphere, and form in areas of mountain waves. Like ocean waves, these waves of air bouncing over the mountains are anything but stable. It makes sense that it would be a “rough ride”.
Where can I find mammatus clouds?
Mammatus usually form on the base of a cumulonimbus anvil, but they have also been sighted to form on other cloud types, such as stratocumulus, altostratus and altocumulus. Mammatus have also been observed to form on the underside of volcanic ash clouds.
Where are lenticular clouds most common?
Towering cumulus clouds. Smooth, lens-shaped lenticular clouds form as air is blown up and over a mountain range. The clouds most likely to produce flying saucer reports are lenticular clouds, which are common in Alaska in the winter.
Do lenticular clouds produce turbulence?
For the first wave, which is over the mountain, the lenticular cloud is often called a cap cloud, because it is like a hat or cap on the mountain. But if conditions are right, these waves can cause severe mountain wave turbulence, from the earth’s surface all the way up into the stratosphere.
What is the biggest storm cloud ever recorded?
The devastating Plainfield tornado of Aug. 28, 1990, developed from a thunderstorm that towered to 65,000 feet. Earth’s tallest thunderstorms form in the tropics, where tops have been measured to about 75,000 feet — more than 14 miles into the atmosphere.
Are mammatus clouds rare?
Mammatus are pouch-like cloud structures and a rare example of clouds in sinking air. Sometimes very ominous in appearance, mammatus clouds are harmless and do not mean that a tornado is about to form; a commonly held misconception. In fact, mammatus are usually seen after the worst of a thunderstorm has passed.