Finally caught a lenticular cloud after 3 years of looking up

I kept seeing people post pics of those UFO-looking clouds and calling them lenticular but half the time they were just altocumulus. Last Tuesday near Boulder I saw the real deal with that smooth lens shape and zero shadows underneath. Has anyone else noticed how often cloud names get thrown around wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kim2d ago

The lenticular vs. altocumulus mixup drives me up a wall. People see any weird cloud and call it lenticular like that's the only cool cloud name they know. Real lenticulars look like flying saucers parked in place with no ragged edges. You got a lucky catch near Boulder, that's prime territory for them with the mountains forcing the air up. Now everybody is gonna start posting pictures of their "lenticular" clouds that are just boring altocumulus.

faith_price72d ago

Read somewhere that lenticulars actually stay still while the wind blows right through them. That's probably why yours looked so flawless, no movement at all.