SalobrenaWeather.com
Lenticular clouds over Salobreña Castle - taken by Y K Liu, Hong Kong, China, March 2008
Editors Note
Lenticular clouds over Salobreña on 20 March 2008 gave the impression of a flying saucer about to land.
Known meteorologically as altocumulus standing lenticularus, lenticular clouds result from strong wind flow over rugged terrain. In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the higher air stream winds whipping over the mountains around Granada produce up-and-down wavelike patterns on the lee side of the range. Lenticular clouds, which occur at mid-levels of the troposphere (about 20,000 feet above sea level), form at the peaks of these waves.
These elliptical cloud formations, which can also resemble stacks of pancakes, foretell changes in the weather. Sometimes they indicate an approaching snowstorm and are welcomed by our skiing enthusiasts.
