This video appeared in several news outlets this week, and I wanted to post it because I think that beautiful clouds are underappreciated. This one is being touted everywhere as an “anvil” or “hat-shaped” cloud, but it looks to me like a lenticular cloud, my favorite type.
The YouTube description says:
A rare anvil or hat-shaped cloud appeared near Mount Fuji after a strong typhoon swept through Japan. The cloud, called “tsurushi-gumo”, or hanging cloud, was seen on Wednesday morning. The phenomenon occurs when winds around Mount Fuji become strong, or after tropical storms. But experts say such clouds rarely appear at this time of the year. The cloud disappeared after about 30 minutes when the sky became overcast.
Nice. HERE’S a short YouTube video showing various Morning Glory Cloud formations [with obligatory YouTuber HAARP conspiracy ‘theorists’ active in the comments section]
Funny, my morning glory looks nothing like that.
Because we’ve actually had some rain & cold, I’ve been takeing photos of clouds too – but not quite as speccy as this dude. Thanks 🙂
Looks like turtles piled on top of each other to me. Turtles all the way up.
A large mushroom shaped cloud over Japan? Are you sure the Iranians haven’t dropped a…oh, no, wait, that was the Americans, wasn’t it?
Cool, a celestial stack of pancakes!
Leo Beachy (1874-1927), who photodocumented rural life in western Maryland, liked clouds too. I recently learned the story of how some of his glass plate negatives miraculously survived the depredations of his relatives after his death. They surfaced decades later, and are now available online. Here’s the link to a page with links to the whole story and the gallery. One of the cloud shots is in gallery album 5, LH thumbnail 8 from bottom. And if you’ve made it this far, for a cool owl shot go to album 13, 15 from top, either column.
It’s the mother ship — the sweet cloud chariot, coming forth to carry me home.
And none too soon, either.
Nah! just a spectacular display of lenticular clouds (so goodbye porkpie hat clouds)….such displays have actually been reported as UFOs on occasion……
Don’t know how rare they are around Mt. Fuji, but I see these over Mt. Rainier fairly often(on days when the mountain is visible at all).
From a pilot’s perspective, it definitely looks like lenticular clouds stacked on top of each other. They usually (though not always) form in the lee of a mountain, but I’ve never seen them stacked that high–incredible.
I kept expecting King Ghidorah to emerge from that cloud, spitting lightning bolts…
For cloud fanciers, check out the Cloud Appreciation Society (CAS) at http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/