Tag: wave clouds

Cloud photographs–May 2025

On a recent trip between northern Arizona and Colorado I had the chance to photograph several interesting clouds and a rainbow.

Rain showers over Arches National Park with the La Sal Mountains in the distance.
Rain showers over Arches National Park with the La Sal Mountains in the distance.
Rain showers over Arches National Park with the La Sal Mountains in the distance.
Rain showers over Arches National Park with the La Sal Mountains in the distance.

Early in the trip we visited Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. Our timing was good to catch late afternoon light and the setting sun over the beautiful red rock of the park. Fortunately, a few showers were well positioned to catch the light and create an amazing scene. Over a period of about one-half hour the light went from flat to beautiful to shadow–then back to amazing. And then the Sun set and it was over.

Wave cloud (altocumulus standing lenticularis, ACSL) over the Sangre de Cristo mountains in south-central Colorado.
Wave cloud (altocumulus standing lenticularis, ACSL) over the Sangre de Cristo mountains in south-central Colorado.
Even smaller wave are evident on the larger wave cloud.
Even smaller wave are evident on the larger wave cloud.
Another view of the wave cloud over the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in south-central Colorado.
Another view of the wave cloud over the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in south-central Colorado.

On the return trip we saw a very nice wave cloud (altocumulus standing lenticularis or ACSL) over the mountain of southern Colorado. It remained in place long enough for us to get to the San Luis Valley and the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in south-central Colorado. The juxtaposition of the mountain range and wave cloud made a nice composition. After a few minutes at this location, we continue on our journey and then stopped again to look back at the wave cloud now located to our northeast.

Spray from Treasure Falls near Wolf Creek Pass produces a small rainbow.
Spray from Treasure Falls near Wolf Creek Pass produces a small rainbow.
Cascading water from Treasure Falls near Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado.
Cascading water from Treasure Falls near Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado.

Spray from Treasure falls produces a rainbow.

Finally, as we descended the west side of Wolf Creek Pass we stopped at Treasure Falls. After a short hike we arrived at the falls. The Sun was now low enough in the west to create a rainbow in the spray from the falls. Pretty nice!

A New Cloud Type is Proposed

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Turbulent wave clouds over the San Francisco Peaks (Jan 2021).
Turbulent wave clouds over the San Francisco Peaks (Jan 2021).

You would think that we have seen all the types of clouds—and named them—that can be seen. But the International Cloud Atlas added one new type (asperitas) in 2017 and is now may be asked to consider adding another—Supercilium. From the Royal Meteorological Society’s Weather journal:

‘Supercilium’ are short-lived cloud features, which appear in turbulent airflow over, and to the immediate lee of, steep mountain peaks during periods of strong mountain summit level winds.

I have seen and photographed this type of cloud several times over the years. My most recent photographs in January 2021 were posted to a weather discussion group in which several folks proposed some hypotheses on the nature and formation of these clouds. We did not reach a consensus or conclusion.

Same as above but zoomed in on the feathery tendrils.
Same as above but zoomed in on the feathery tendrils.
Another example seen over the Rocky Mountains (1990).
Another example seen over the Rocky Mountains (1990).

The Weather article proposes a name and description:

Proposed classification description
Supercilium: Short-lived, broken thin wisps of cloud, irregularly distributed, appearing to tumble and break in a turbulent way in airflow over, and to the immediate lee of, steep mountain peaks during periods of strong mountain summit level winds. Applies mainly to Altocumulus and Stratocumulus, possibly Cirrocumulus, sometimes coincident with the Duplicatus variety.

Nice to see that there will be a specific name applied to these very interesting clouds.

Edit: Fixed link to Weather journal.

 

Wave Cloud over the San Francisco Peaks

We had an interesting wave cloud over and downwind of the San Francisco Peaks on Saturday. I first noticed it as I left the house driving to a trail run on Waterline Road in the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff.

Wave cloud over the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona.
Wave cloud over the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona.

The view from the parking lot and trailhead was partially obscured by trees but I knew that sections of the Waterline Road had a wide-open view. And, so, I found a view that I really liked with the wave cloud, road, and distant cinder cones.

I shot this as a set of five vertical panoramas on my iPhone. I then imported these into Affinity Photo to create a horizontal panorama (a panorama of panoramas!).  Finally, I used some warp transformation in AP to fix the horizon (i.e.; make it straight instead of curved) and the corners.

Five vertical panorama images used to create the final image.
Five vertical panorama images used to create the final image.

Oh, and the run was fun, too!

Wave Clouds over Sedona

Earlier in the day the clouds were more extensive over northern Arizona but by early afternoon the sky was mostly clear with only occasional wave clouds appearing. These wave clouds were not terrain locked (i.e., remaining in place) but were moving quickly with the strong winds aloft. It is likey that they were generated by the Black Hills in Yavapai County.

Wave clouds above MItten Ridge in Sedona.
Wave clouds above MItten Ridge in Sedona.

The conversion of the original image to black and white helps to show the shape and textures of the cloud as well as the details of the cliffs and towers of Mitten Ridge.

 

Wave Clouds Over the San Francisco Peaks

A few weeks ago I captured these images of wave clouds over the San Francisco Peaks. At first, there was a “short stack” of lenticular clouds, specifically Altocumulus Standing Lenticularis (ACSL).

Wave clouds over the San Francisco Peaks.
Wave clouds over the San Francisco Peaks.

I took several photographs looking toward the peaks from the Bonito Park area near the west entrance of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. I alternated between wide-angle shots showing the snow-covered flats and zoomed-in images of the stack of clouds. After a few minutes, I was ready to leave.

Wide-angle view of wave clouds over the San Francisco Peaks.
Wide-angle view of wave clouds over the San Francisco Peaks.
Zoomed-in crop showing structure of the wispy filaments with ACSL above.
Zoomed-in crop showing structure of the wispy filaments with ACSL above.

But before I did leave, new clouds began to form beneath the stack of ACSL. These clouds were quite different and appeared as long, wispy filaments or rope-like clouds. Again, I took photographs ranging from wide-angle shots to zoomed-in shots. After about 8–10 minutes the delicate filaments began to take on more of an ACSL shape similar to the already-present ACSL above.

I was intrigued by the shapes of these clouds so I posted a comment with photographs to a weather discussion group with many atmospheric scientists far more aware of the dynamics and details of wave clouds than I. It turned into a fascinating discussion with links to journal articles, modeling studies and, inevitably, YouTube.

I do not think we reached a consensus on the dynamics and evolution of these cloud filaments but all agreed it was a worthwhile discussion.