Can you identify these clouds?

[funfly]

seen last week over Bangor, are they lenticular?

http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/statusicon/forum_new.gif (http://www.funfly.co.uk/clouds.jpg)

[AlphaMale]

I would say so :ok:

... Interested to see what other people think though.

[funfly]

quite used to seeing lenticular clouds around here but these look a bit different and there seemed to be a number stacked above each other. In the picture the open sea is on the left.

[Final 3 Greens]

They don't look lenticular to me, but I have not seen any quite like this.

What was the wx doing at the time?

[Arclite01]

Most definately lenticular of some type.

Just because they are low level does not mean they are not Lenticular. Sometimes lenticular can be created by 2 different air masses colliding - no real ground feature is/needs to be involved............

Often conventional cloud formations are distorted by wave impact as well and these can take on a lenticular type shape and properties..........

I'd suggest your clouds fall in the latter category.................

Arc

[cats_five]

Think so. When the wave is really good seeing them stack like this happens. It depends on how moist the air is of course, and given the general amount of cloud I imagine it was pretty moist that day.

[Flying Boat]

They could be cumulus clouds moulded by unusual wind patterns, it would be intereting to know which way the wind was up there.
The shapes hint at right to left of the picture.

The clouds do hint at lenticular and you can see them on the top of each other, but often they are seen with a gap between the two.

The id problems come from the stratoform clouds above these shapes.

Any idea what the height it became OVC?

If you have a few hours to kill, trawl through the thousands of cloud photos at: The Cloud Appreciation Society (http://www.cloudappreciationsociety.org)
:O

[englishal]

I reckon they are lenticular. You see cloud formations like this quite a lot in Norway over the mountains when the wind is blowing....

[Togue]

http://www.funfly.co.uk/clouds.jpg

[chrisN]

Just lenticular.

"stacked dinner plates" is a well known phenomenom.

Chris N.

PS look up "lenticular cloud" on Wiki, and also see their reference 3:


APOD: 2009 February 3 - Lenticular Clouds Above Washington (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090203.html).

[batninth]

Daft question but which Bangor? I've been to Bangor in Gwynedd several times but not enough to recognise that piece of road or to be certain about the hills in the background.

However it does look a lot like Gogarth next to Llandudno in the background to my untrained eye, in which case a southerly wind like we've had lately would roll off the tops in Snowdonia & could cause a mountain wave & thus lenticular like that.

:confused:

[Dan Winterland]

With many happy hours soaring on the leading edge of such clouds, I would say they are definately lenticular. A good clue is the movement. If they are stationary they they are lenticular. If they travel downwind, they are something else.

[jxc]

I saw these to as was driving up to scotland took a pic on the phone as i drove further north you could see they were clearly stacked
looked really good

[Flying Boat]

After looking at the second photo.

I concur, lenticular.

Got any photos of big Mamas???:E

[ChriSat]

Daft question but which Bangor? I've been to Bangor in Gwynedd several times but not enough to recognise that piece of road or to be certain about the hills in the background.

However it does look a lot like Gogarth next to Llandudno in the background to my untrained eye, in which case a southerly wind like we've had lately would roll off the tops in Snowdonia & could cause a mountain wave & thus lenticular like that.


Yes you're right.. From what I can tell this photo was taken facing east, just off the A55 on Station Road, Aber which is between Llanfairfechan and Bangor. We do get some wild weather around here, but this type of cloud formation is quite rare. Nice Photo :)

[funfly]

ChriSat, you are, of course, correct in the exact location. I was driving east along towards Llandudno on the A55 (used to be known as the police benefit road as the N.Wales. police are a bit sharp on speed monitoring!) when I spotted these and simply had to get out of the car and take a photo.

Toque, I wish I knew the way to include pictures in a posting.

[Togue]

funfly,

From FAQ


To attach a file to a new post, simply click the [Manage Attachments] button at the bottom of the post composition page, and locate the file that you want to attach from your local hard drive.
After posting, the image attachments may display a thumbnail, depending on the forum settings. To view the contents of the attachment (if it is not already displayed) simply click the filename link that appears next to the attachment icon.


or jus click "post reply" then "insert image" ( little icon that looks like a small picture of two mountains and the sun ) then allow scripst ( if requested to ) and finally "preview post". If you like it "Submit Reply".
Hope it helps.
Have a good one!

[Pull what]

They could be cumulus clouds moulded by unusual wind patterns,Lenticular are Cumulus clouds!

They are Lenticular, clouds are like fronts, capable of much modification from the model ones shown in basic text books.

[Flying Boat]

Lenticular clouds are not always cumulus.

They are normally orographic, created by air being forced upwards due to a raised land mass, but you can get lenticular cumulus, usually Alto Cumulus, Strato Cumulus or cirrocumulus.

Cumulus can be created orographically too.

Cumulus clouds are normally created through convection, created by small thermals, over warm pockets of land or the sea.
The more energy, the quicker & larger the cumulus cloud forms.

I checked before posting, Royal Meteorological Society & the Met Office, not wanting to look like a total plank.:8

[Pull what]

Lenticular are cumulus clouds-they belong to the cumulus family

Lenticularis (len) – clouds having the shape of a lens or almond, often very elongated and usually with well-defined outlines; they occasionally show irisation (iridescence). Such clouds appear most often in cloud formations of orographic origin, but may also occur in regions without marked orography. This term applies mainly to stratocumulus, altocumulus and cirrocumulus clouds.From the met office-cloud facts site-or just basic PPL knowledge

[Piltdown Man]

Call these clouds whatever name you want, but these ones are caused by wave activity. Altocumulus Lenticularis would be their correct name. Here are some more. (http://www.stormeyes.org/tornado/SkyPix/lenticul.htm) And I can imagine myself climbing up alongside them... Nice picture.

PM