Comments on: The Mountain is Wearing a Hat

By: Susannah

Susannah — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:38:55 +0000

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cloud like that. Amazing!

It makes me think of a parked UFO.

By: Tom Stepleton

Tom Stepleton — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:54:27 +0000

Very rarely Pittsburgh sees lenticulars forming atop and leeward of cumulus buildups, which are the closest things we have to big mountains in that respect. This is a very exciting development for pilots, particularly glider pilots, who can use the upward-moving currents to fly very high and very far. (This is noted on the Wikipedia page.) Our soaring club (http://www.pittsburghsoaringclub.com) has a legend of a day in the '90s when this condition was taking place---one club member was able to contact the wave, fly above the cumulus layer, and climb well over 10,000 feet. As for myself, I have climbed to 9,000 feet in wave over the Appalachian ridges, but wave in those places doesn't reliably produce lenticulars.

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:50:21 +0000

Snowy owls can turn their heads 270 degrees – so far that it looks like full circle.

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:21:16 +0000

Thank you for this beautiful picture and for your interesting website. This cloud reminds me of the winter waterspouts I saw once in Maine over an inlet of Casco Bay. It was during a very cold winter a few years ago, while I was out running at 5 a.m. The temperature was below zero and I understand these phenomena are quite rare and there are only a handful of photos of them. While I was running around Back Cove admiring the gorgous white plumes that touched the water and went up into the sky, I also noticed a snowy owl nearby, following me as I ran by, with its head swiveling around. Can owls really turn their heads completely around more than 360 degrees?