Evening view of Williamson... : Photos, Diagrams & Topos : SummitPost

Comments

iamback - Apr 10, 2006 1:42 am - Hasn't voted

Awesome!

Wow! Incredible shot. I have been there before but never been blessed with that spectacular of a cloud formation.

Aspen - May 15, 2006 9:54 am - Hasn't voted

Bathing the eyes

Wow...my eyes just took a kewl refreshing bath after seeing your amazing pic! I gotta us my bivy more often up there :D

Knight

bbirtle - Jun 8, 2006 2:44 am - Voted 10/10

Awesome.

10/10. Some of the wildest clouds I've ever seen photographed!

icypeak - Aug 20, 2007 7:03 pm - Voted 10/10

Absolutely fantastic!

This I think is one of those once in a life time shots, must have been spectacular to actually see that in person.

BigJordan - Sep 3, 2007 3:05 pm - Voted 10/10

Good Lord!

That is a sweet shot my friend. You really have a chunk of photo gold on your hands with this one.

jmc - Oct 17, 2007 10:36 am - Voted 10/10

..........

Words cannot do it justice.

rdmc - Dec 8, 2007 6:38 pm - Voted 10/10

WOW!

Incredible!

Little Mountain Goat - May 26, 2008 8:21 pm - Voted 10/10

Sweet

That is probably the coolest picture I have seen in my life. I would have loved to see that with my own eyes.

kovarpa - Jun 2, 2008 12:31 am - Hasn't voted

thanks

everyone, I can't believe this pic is still getting hits after 3 yrs. we did the same route (sans bivouac) this year (May) but unfortunately also sans the spectacular clouds...

BCJ - Oct 20, 2008 10:43 pm - Voted 10/10

So Impressive

Probably the most beautiful cloud scene I've seen. Such an amazing shot!!!

Brian

kovarpa - Oct 21, 2008 2:48 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: So Impressive

thanks, to see that with my own eyes was really something.

paulbalegend - Jan 18, 2009 7:46 pm - Voted 10/10

Sweet shelf cloud!! Did a thunderstorm follow/precede this picture?

kovarpa - Jan 22, 2009 6:27 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: .

no, no thunderstorms, not even that windy as far as I remember... not sure how/why these form.

ozenmacher - Mar 29, 2009 2:57 am - Hasn't voted

Re: .

Mountain wave dynamics. In this case, this is, as you mentioned, a lee wave. Different types of lee waves exist. Depending on atmospheric stability as well as other variables, waves can be of the "trapped" lee wave type (think lenticular clouds), vertically propagating lee waves (can't really tell myself, but I am thinking this is what this cloud type is), as well as a number of other less frequent mountain developed cloud types. The atmosphere is a fluid, and as such, it follows the laws of fluid dynamics. Think of a rock thrown into a lake and the subsequent ripple effect. Just as that rock develops those ripples (perturbations), mountains block the otherwise orderly flow of air through the atmosphere. As the air flows over a mountain (or mountain range), it is perturbed, and those perturbations propagate through the atmosphere as gravitational waves (think ripples on the water again). Given the right conditions and moisture fields, clouds can form along the crests of these waves. As the air rises and cools, condensation will develop into visible clouds. Was for why the cloud seemingly doesn't move, think of a simple sine wave (atmospheric wave phenomena are for more complex than such a simple abstraction)..http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/en/e/e8/Swr.png

Hope that helps!

ozenmacher - Mar 29, 2009 3:00 am - Hasn't voted

Re: .

Oh, and as you correctly pointed out, the "westerlies", or persistent westerly flow in the upper atmosphere of the United States result in such "lee clouds" developing along the eastern slopes of ranges.