Comments on: Lenticular clouds over the Boulder foothills

By: Energy Tough Love Blog » I Renew My Vows – Save the environment from mankind

Thu, 05 May 2011 16:01:32 +0000

[...] Sun’s atmosphere, but a lovely optical effect from water droplets in the clouds), standing-wave lenticular clouds, even a Green Flash! Watch the stars as they wheel across the view; can you spot the Pleiades, the [...]

By: Kempton

Kempton — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:19:22 +0000

For a trailer on a 32 minute documentary of a soaring distance record using the lenticular clouds, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAKYNAi0P7Y

FYI, if you want to buy the full 32 minute HD video, go to: http://hdsoaring.blogspot.com

And thank you to Sarah, whomever you are , for citing my video in my blog in the first post above. I shoot HD video from the cockpit of my gliders (not hang gliders) for education and instruction on using wave clouds (lenticulars) for cross country soaring flights. In the video we discuss planning, preparation and tactics for flying 1,200 miles in one day without an engine. The world record is almost 1,900 miles in one day set in Argentina a few years ago. That’s from SF to Chicago with no engine in one day! Yet there is very little research on these, other than a few crazy glider pilots who either want to break records, or in another highly specialized project, to go to 90,000 in wave produced by the Polar Vortex: http://www.perlanproject.com/

For me, this is the best science there is!

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:18:56 +0000

@ Spectroscope asked -
Do they give you rain or hail? Or just float on by?

These clouds are formed exclusively when you have a high and reasonably laminar (smooth) wind flow over something big enough to cause a region to exist where cloud can form. The technical background involves the air speeding up and an associated pressure drop to get around the obstacle, but the key is that the temperature drops below the dew point in that reagion. The cloud appears to be stationary but is actually VERY active-forming on the leading edge and dissipating on the trailing edge of the visible cloud.

I don’t recall EVER seeing any sort of precipitation from a lenticular cloud…I’m not sure that that is possible, given how they are formed, but I’m open to be surprised, too.

By: stevesliva

stevesliva — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:47:04 +0000

Climbing magazine just had some news about the Devil’s Thumb:
http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/extreme_headpoints_in_co_and_ny/

Climbing that overhang you see in your photo turns out to be really difficult. Go figure!

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:39:28 +0000

Every once in a while you can see some (small) lenticular clouds off Mount Greylock here in MA. It’s uncommon but not unheard of and sometimes they’ll post pictures in the Lifestyle (!) section of the local paper.

By: mike burkhart

mike burkhart — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:57:54 +0000

Yes these clouds are sometimes mistaken for ufos another thing mistaken for ufos I think is secret aircraft (I’ve had an intrest in aircraft in studying I came to this conclusion) in the 50s there was reserch in saucer shaped aircraft in fact the first report in 1947 that started all this may have been a flight of flying wings another type of aircraft reserched In the late 80s there were reports of triangle shaped ufos in Europe at the time the f117 at the time top secert was being deployed to nato air bases I think these people thought the f 117s flying to these airbases were ufos I konw some may disagree with me but this what I think is just one rational thing ufos could be

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:53:16 +0000

I saw a lot of those when I lived in Boulder too. Here’s a great shot of clouds rising over a mountain that I took in Estes Park.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wmgobuffs/2989328861/

By: CJSF

CJSF — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:41:17 +0000

One thing that surprised me after moving to Florida was that there are lenticular-like clouds here quite often. They form over the top of towering cumulonimbus clouds, presumably in the same manner as those forming over foothills and mountains. However, they are quite small. Occasionally I’ve seen them relatively isolated in the sky, but I assume they are forming in the same manner.

CJSF

By: Larian LeQuella

Larian LeQuella — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:25:46 +0000

Ugh, i hate lenticular clouds… Mountain wave turbulence.

But yes, I will agree, they are cool to look at. Just in the aviation world, you want to avoid them. That and virga too. Unless you like replacing your fillings!

By: Just me

Just me — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:29:56 +0000

I need to look through my photo archives, because I know I saw and photographed a beautiful bank of lenticular clouds when I was driving across country once.

@14. Rob
Really? Salma Hayek is part of the Ramtha cult? I had such high thoughts of her until now. Sigh.

I think the freakiest clouds I’ve seen were these green inverted cotton balls across the sky like an upside down mattress. I believe those are precursors to tornadoes. Is that true? It was very windy that day, but I never saw a tornado.

By: Spectroscope

Spectroscope — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:35:36 +0000

@ 9. Kevin Says:

@ Spectroscope – the official designation is altocumulus standing lenticularis

Thanks!

Anyone here seen noctilucent clouds – high altitude night-time glowing clouds?

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:05:14 +0000

MichaelL may jest about the actual objects represented here, but my local cult (Ramtha in Yelm, WA) actually believe these are spaceships that aliens are flying into the mountains (to the middle of the hollow earth). You see, they just look like clouds to us because our brains aren’t prepared to see what they really are. The cult has died down a little lately but was rather large at one point, famous members include Salma Hayek and Linda Evans.

By: Ausduck

Ausduck — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:02:51 +0000

Cool clouds, thx 4 the pics!
Darn it, BA , it looks like you have an awesome view from y0ur house without the clouds!

By: zandperl

zandperl — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:25:44 +0000

Give it a shot with a polarizing filter, and with an IR filter (set the camera in B&W mode). Both of these make for dramatic cloud shots.

By: dragonet2

dragonet2 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:24:45 +0000

The most exciting thing I’ve seen in Kansas City is mammatas clouds. Can’t find the photo I took of them. though.

By: idahogie

idahogie — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:23:27 +0000

Saw my first (and only) anti crepuscular rays right near you (Louisville) back in 1996. Those were amazing. I pulled over at a friend’s house and dragged him out to show him – I had no idea what they were.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:18:11 +0000

@ Spectroscope – the official designation is altocumulus standing lenticularis

I actually saw lenticular clouds in Michigan a couple of summers ago. Freaked me out.

By: gypkap

gypkap — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:14:22 +0000

I see lenticular clouds over the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque now and then.
Completely off topic: the Sandias got snow today at higher altitudes, and Albuquerque got much needed rain.

By: tim

tim — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:38:39 +0000

I sure do miss the Flatirons over Boulder. And they make for some nifty clouds!

We get lenticulars coming off of Mt. Rainier that are pretty spectacular. I think they’re mostly in late summer.

By: Spectroscope

Spectroscope — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:24:26 +0000

Well worth looking up for. Usually (esp. at night) clouds are something I’m happy to do without. But these ones do seem pretty good.

Do they give you rain or hail? Or just float on by?

Do they have a technical name lenticular cumulus or strato-cumulus or something?

By: dragonet2

dragonet2 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:15:22 +0000

I’ve seen those up in the Rockie Mountains. I want to one day personally witness those roller clouds in Australia.

Then again, I always know what the sky looks like, and don’t understand those who refuse to look up.

By: Lugosi

Lugosi — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:11:19 +0000

This is totally unrelated to your post about clouds, but here’s a nice article on vaccines. It was written by a pediatrician in New York city.
http://www.nycskeptics.org/blog/?p=1078

By: Jason Patterson

Jason Patterson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:09:09 +0000

I was under the impression that lenticular, just like lens, comes from the word lentil, which preceded both. Lenses and lenticular clouds are lentil-shaped.

By: MichaelL

MichaelL — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:24:59 +0000

Those are no clouds my friend… it’s a fleet of BalloonBoys!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:16:49 +0000

Someday I hope to get a close-up look at one of those. Glider pilots come from all over the world to enjoy the Sierra wave ( see awesome movies here about wave near Tahoe: http://hdsoaring.blogspot.com/2008/05/sierra-wave-and-return-large-650mb.html )

Looks like the Denver area was working pretty well too that day!