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236:, because many of them have the shape of a "flying saucer", with a characteristic "lens" or smooth, saucer-like shape. Lenticular clouds generally do not form over low-lying or flat terrain, so many people may have never seen one before and don't know that they can exist. Bright colours (called
201:
As air travels along the surface of the Earth, obstructions are often encountered, including natural features, such as mountains or hills, and artificial structures, such as buildings and other constructions, which disrupt the flow of air into "eddies", or areas of turbulence.
252:
actively seek them out in order to climb in the upward moving air at the leading edge. The precise location of the rising air mass is fairly easy to predict from the orientation of the clouds. "Wave lift" of this kind is often very smooth and strong, and enables
257:
to soar to remarkable altitudes and to cover great distances. As of 2020, the gliding world records for both distance (over 3,000 km; 1,864 mi) and absolute altitude (over 22,000 metres; 74,334 ft) were set using such lift.
217:, moisture in the air may condense to form lenticular clouds. Under certain conditions, long strings of lenticular clouds may form near the crest of each successive wave, creating a formation known as a "
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Pilots of powered aircraft tend to avoid flying near lenticular clouds because of the turbulence and sinking air of the rotor generated at the trailing edge of these clouds, but
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Lenticular clouds have also been known to form in cases where a mountain does not exist, but rather as the result of shear winds created by a front.
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NASA Astronomy
Picture of the Day: Picture of the Day 2009-01-21: A lenticular Cloud over New Zealand (21 January 2009)
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NASA Astronomy
Picture of the Day: Lenticular Clouds near Mt. Ranier, Washington, USA (3 February 2009)
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San
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that form in the lower stratosphere sometimes have lenticular shapes.
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standing lenticular (CCSL), varying in altitude above the ground.
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and selected species, supplementary features, and other airborne
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kcocco.com
Altocumulus Lenticular Clouds, Wasatch Mountains, Utah
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Lenticular cloud seen from Palm Desert, California, in April 2008
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225:, occasionally enough for water vapour to condense and produce
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Cumulus castellanus (unofficial alternative name for Cu con))
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BBC image gallery of lenticular clouds over
Yorkshire in 2011
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No differentiated sub-types; tends to resemble cirrostratus
377:"Klaus Ohlmann (GER) (7605) | World Air Sports Federation"
240:) are sometimes seen along the edge of lenticular clouds.
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term for Cu con and "Cu cas" is
Towering cumulus ))
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Lenticular clouds have been said to be mistaken for
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1436:(Mother cloud)+mutatus (e.g. cumulomutatus (cumut)
1433:(Mother cloud)+genitus (e.g. cumulogenitus (cugen)
169:There are three main types of lenticular clouds:
193:A lenticular cloud covers the summit crater of
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120:Lenticular cloud over the Antarctic ice near
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613:Nacreous polar stratospheric clouds (PSC)
46:Dramatic lenticular cloud formation over
534:Latin terminology except where indicated
314:"Altocumulus Standing Lenticular Clouds"
221:". Those wave systems can produce large
61:Stratocumulus, altocumulus, cirrocumulus
837:Mutatus non-height specific (see below)
305:
285:
31:
365:Atmospheric Optics: Iridescent Clouds
7:
1239:Stratocumulus stratiformis (Sc str)
1234:Stratocumulus lenticularis (Sc len)
1224:Stratocumulus castellanus (Sc cas)
780:Cirrocumulus stratiformis (Cc str)
775:Cirrocumulus lenticularis (Cc len)
341:"Lenticular clouds look like UFOs"
25:
896:Altocumulus stratiformis (Ac str)
891:Altocumulus lenticularis (Ac len)
765:Cirrocumulus castellanus (Cc cas)
339:Byrd, Deborah (19 January 2021).
1001:Cumulonimbus capillatus (Cb cap)
876:Altocumulus castellanus (Ac cas)
634:polar stratospheric clouds (PSC)
177:standing lenticular (SCSL), and
1180:St-only genitus cloud and other
816:Cirrostratus nebulosus (Cs neb)
1249:Stratocumulus volutus (Sc vol)
1229:Stratocumulus floccus (Sc flo)
1010:Cb-only supplementary features
811:Cirrostratus fibratus (Cs fib)
1:
1187:Stratus silvagenitus (St sil)
1045:Cumulonimbus flumen ((Cb flu)
1038:Cb-only accessories and other
886:Altocumulus lacunosus (Ac la)
770:Cirrocumulus floccus (Cc flo)
466:"Mt. Rainier puts on a show!"
996:Cumulonimbus calvus (Cb cal)
901:Altocumulus volutus (Ac vol)
881:Altocumulus floccus (Ac flo)
575:Noctilucent type III billows
173:standing lenticular (ACSL),
950:Nimbostratus virga (Ns vir)
693:Cirrus castellanus (Ci cas)
1489:
1171:Stratus nebulosus (St neb)
1105:Cumulus congestus (Cu con)
1099:Cumulus mediocris (Cu med)
734:Cirrus vertebratus (Ci ve)
578:Noctilucent type IV whirls
430:Standing Lenticular Clouds
268:Cloud Appreciation Society
1028:Cumulonimbus murus ((mur)
1017:Cumulonimbus cauda ((cau)
708:Cirrus spissatus (Ci spa)
572:Noctilucent type II bands
39:
1166:Stratus fractus (St fra)
1094:Cumulus humilis (Cu hum)
1073:Variable vertical extent
1023:Cumulonimbus incus (inc)
698:Cirrus fibratus (Ci fib)
569:Noctilucent type I veils
563:Polar mesospheric clouds
318:National Weather Service
185:Formation and appearance
150:that form mostly in the
18:Altocumulus lenticularis
1244:Stratocumulus Undulatus
729:Cirrus intortus (Ci in)
713:Cirrus uncinus (Ci unc)
703:Cirrus floccus (Ci flo)
1384:Supplementary features
1264:supplementary features
198:
125:
1427:and human-made clouds
923:Altostratus undulatus
632:Nitric acid and water
192:
119:
71:lenticularis (Latin:
273:Pileus (meteorology)
139:lentil-shaped, from
1445:Homomutatus (homut)
1441:Homogenitus (hogen)
1411:Praecipitatio (pra)
623:Lenticular nacreous
1207:Stratocumulus (Sc)
1194:(Fg) Surface level
1135:Trade wind cumulus
620:Cirriform nacreous
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722:Ci-only varieties
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129:Lenticular clouds
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16:(Redirected from
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164:Nacreous clouds
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468:. KOMONews.com
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207:standing waves
197:, Philippines.
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27:Cloud species
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1309:Pannus (pan)
1299:Pileus (pil)
1271:Arcus ((arc)
1149:Stratus (St)
1070:Cumulus (Cu)
1047:Beaver tail)
890:
849:Medium-level
658:Tropospheric
528:hydrometeors
470:. Retrieved
410:. Retrieved
408:. 2017-08-03
405:
396:
385:. Retrieved
383:. 2017-10-10
380:
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348:. Retrieved
344:
334:
322:. Retrieved
317:
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209:form on the
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179:cirrocumulus
168:
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137:Lenticularis
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128:
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72:
29:
1416:Virga (vir)
1406:Mamma (mam)
1396:Cavum (cav)
1355:Opacus (op)
1304:Velum (vel)
1277:Tuba ((tub)
1030:Wall cloud)
1019:Tail cloud)
936:Multi-level
676:Cirrus (Ci)
559:Noctilucent
541:Mesospheric
406:www.fai.org
381:www.fai.org
238:iridescence
171:altocumulus
152:troposphere
93:lens-like,
85:(40,000 ft)
1329:Non-height
666:High-level
472:2008-12-11
412:2020-10-05
387:2022-11-22
300:References
219:wave cloud
122:Scott Base
90:Appearance
1338:Varieties
1292:and other
1130:Horseshoe
1056:Hot tower
967:Low-level
943:Varieties
402:"Records"
215:dew point
141:lenticula
1467:Category
1331:specific
605:15–30 km
551:80–85 km
345:EarthSky
262:See also
223:updrafts
80:Altitude
50:, Dublin
1473:Cumulus
1313:Other-
1216:Species
1158:Species
1089:Fractus
1081:Species
988:Species
868:Species
803:Species
757:Species
685:Species
668:3–18 km
324:9 March
255:gliders
211:leeward
97:-shaped
67:Species
1273:Shelf)
969:0–2 km
851:2–8 km
524:genera
320:. NOAA
244:Flight
160:saucer
148:clouds
144:lentil
95:Saucer
73:lentil
1123:Other
561:(NLC)
521:Cloud
350:3 May
280:Notes
133:Latin
110:only.
108:Virga
57:Genus
1113:ICAO
352:2022
326:2018
234:UFOs
156:lens
1192:Fog
532:WMO
162:.
158:or
1469::
530:-
404:.
379:.
343:.
316:.
229:.
135::
1111:(
1107:(
1103:(
513:e
506:t
499:v
475:.
415:.
390:.
354:.
328:.
131:(
124:.
75:)
20:)
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