Rare cloud formations left sky-watchers stunned in Wyoming. The clouds appeared to be crashing like waves across the horizon. The phenomenon hung above the crest of the Bighorn Mountains.
A Wyoming local, Rachel Gordon, told BBC News said it was special, and something that needed to be captured. Gordan took the viral images from her parents’ back door before posting them to social media. “I’m just glad others can enjoy the experience now, too,” said Gordan.
Incredible display of Kelvin–Helmholtz clouds over Sheridan, Wyoming yesterday! Photo by Diane Boice. So amazing!! 🌊😍 pic.twitter.com/7d5JtwN4Kd
— Kaitlin Wright (@wxkaitlin) December 7, 2022
The phenomenon is Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. They is when a faster stream of air moves about the rising air below. The formations are named after scientists Lord Kelvin and Herman von Helmholtz, who researched the science behind these wave-like clouds.
Members of the Center for Science Education say it is possible that the Bighorn Mountains contributed to the formation, “after wind blows up and over a barrier, like a mountain, the air continues flowing through the atmosphere in a wavelike pattern.” An entry on the Center’s website elaborates further, “Complex evaporation and condensation patterns create the capped tops and cloudless troughs of the waves. These clouds form when there is a difference in the wind speed or direction between two wind currents in the atmosphere.”
The formations are also known as ‘fluctus clouds’ and are speculated to be possible inspiration for Van Gogh’s painting Starry Night. The Cloud Appreciation Society describes these clouds as the crown jewel in many cloud spotter’s collections.
Super Flower Blood Moon: the first total lunar eclipse of 2022
Yemen: ancient buildings collapse amid heavy rains
Marine Protected Areas Day 2022
