National Media Gets Giddy Over Mount Shasta’s Lenticular Clouds
Welcome to the party, Washington Post.
Following our viral post of the Alien Sunrise over Mount Shasta this week, WaPo joined the party to highlight the lenticular clouds we’ve come to know and love in Northern California.
The popular national publication explained to the nation how Shasta has become one of the premiere destinations in the world for breathtaking cloud formations.
“Flying saucerlike apparitions are no stranger to the skies in Weed, a city of roughly 3,000 people in Siskiyou County in northern California,” read the article. “Nestled just west of Mount Shasta, the community offers stunning views of the Golden State’s fifth-highest peak. In addition to its beauty, the 14,179-foot volcanic mountain has become adept at one other thing: producing lenticular clouds.”
The article went on to explain the science behind lenticular clouds and how Mt. Shasta’s landscape is the perfect environment for their formation.
“Lenticular clouds form when comparatively moist air rides up a mountaintop, forced into a cooler layer of air above. If the cool-down is significantly large, the air parcel can become chilled to saturation, forming a cloud. Downwind of the mountain, the air eventually sinks lower in the atmosphere, drying out and eroding any visible cloud. As such, wind-sculpted lenticular clouds are usually local.“
Of course, it’s great to see the national spotlight on our beloved mountain, but they’re a little late to the party. We’ve been writing about Mt. Shasta’s lenticulars for years, with their incredible formations adding to the mystique behind the active volcano.
Keep putting on a show, mighty Mount Shasta.