Look up in the sky...It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's an Altocumulus Standing Lenticular Cloud!
Many people were left wondering about the almost mystical formation that hovered in the southern Utah skies yesterday, including myself. Being a cloud watcher and rainbow chaser, I was so curious in fact that I just had to look it up.
This unusual type of cloud, according to the National Weather Service is known as an altocumulus standing lenticular cloud, usually forming in the winter and spring months. It is caused when fast moving air is forced up and over a topographic barrier that is oriented more or less perpendicular to the direction from which the upper-level wind is blowing.
This deflection creates a gravity wave downwind of the topographic barrier not unlike a wave you might generate by throwing a pebble into a pond. When sufficient moisture is present above mountain-top level, ACSL clouds develop within the crest of these mountain waves where the air is rising. (Information taken from http://www.srh.noaa.gov/abq/?n=features_acsl.)
It is quite unusual to see these clouds in desert areas because of the dry weather, but due to the high desert landscape and recent moisture in the Southern Utah area, the lenticular cloud formed.
Happy Monday all, enjoy!
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