Minna-Liisa Äijälä (Cloud Appreciation Society Member 31,543) crossed paths with this group of Altocumulus lenticularis at the ruins of the ancient settlement Aldea de Tulor in the Atacama Desert of Chile. The village, once an oasis, was abandoned around AD300 due to a lack of water – perhaps after a drought or an earthquake changed the flow of the San Pedro river. Lenticular clouds, so named for their lentil shape, are produced by wind currents passing up and over raised terrain like mountains. As Minna-Liisa watched, one of the lenticular clouds divided into undulating ridges, becoming an Altocumulus lenticularis undulatus. It even briefly developed the breaking-wave features known as fluctus, which are visible at its nearer end. ‘The pretty cloud soon disintegrated,‘ recalled Minna-Liisa, ‘without shedding a drop on the driest desert in the world.’
In Album: Roger's Timeline Photos
Dimension:
700 x 700
File Size:
35.04 Kb
Be the first person to like this.