Tutorial
Lenticular Clouds
These lens-shaped clouds typically form at middle levels. They are usually
associated with strong winds blowing over mountainous areas. The mountains cause
a pattern of up and down waves in the wind, with lenticular clouds forming at
the peaks of these waves. Often, they will form in the wave capping a prominent
mountain peak, but can also form in the subsequent wave crests in the lee of
the mountain. It is not uncommon to have several layers of lenticular clouds
stacked on top of each other. The lenticular clouds shown here formed on the
leeward side of Californis's Santa Cruz mountains on a particularly windy day.
Other middle clouds include altocumulus and altostratus
clouds.
| Weather Tutorial: Low Clouds | Weather Tutorial: Middle Clouds |
| Weather Tutorial: High Clouds | Weather Tutorial: Vertically Advanced Clouds |
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