Blog: Lenticular clouds
This is a partial re-post of something that Dr. Andy Russell, IfE’s lecturer in climate change, wrote over at his own blog.
Clouds are getting a bit of a day out in the news today because some people photographed some really nice lenticular clouds in West Yourkshire. These crisp and layered lenticular clouds are relatively rare in the UK as they form downwind of mountains or hills.
What happens is that the air flowing over the hill gets “knocked” upwards which results in a type of wave forming. The cloud forms on this wave at a point where the flowing air moves upwards and cools to a point where the water vapour condenses into a cloud. So, although the cloud is stationary, there is a constant flow of air going through it. There’s a quick sketch below of what this might look like if you could see the wind.
I really like this sort of image as it’s a nice way that you can talk about physics without people knowing!
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Submitted by: Rungnapa
02 Mar 2012 7:21pm
This is beautiful a blog entry about dolucs with your awesome photos and what a surprise & bonus to see my sweet Gracie's face as well I love dolucs too. Do you like Chaka's song about them? Clouds! Different shapes and sizes, high and low horizons Listening to it always puts pep in my step and it's fun to see Nora's hips sway to the beat when I'm playing it while walking the dogs, LOL. I look forward to reading more entries complete with illustrations from the phields hee hee, but seriously!!
Submitted by: Andy Russell
02 Mar 2012 8:41pm
Hi there Rungnapa Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I'd never actually heard the Chaka song before so I had a quick listen - it certainly cheered me up! One of my favourite songs about weather and climate is Oh Larsen B by British Sea Power, it's about the collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula. Good stuff.
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