UFO Shaped Lenticular Clouds Around La Grande Oregon
La Grande, Oregon is in the beautiful Grande Ronde Valley surrounded by several mountain ranges with 3 distinctive peaks.
- Mt Emily – on the North
- Mt Harris – on the Northeast
- and Mt Fanny and East
Lenticular, lens-shaped clouds tend to develop on the downwind side of mountains or mountain ranges. This occurs when stable, moist air flows over a mountain, creating a series of oscillating waves. If the temperature at the crest of the wave equals the dew point temperature, condensation occurs in a lens formation. As the air falls down the trough of the wave, where the temperature and dew point temperature are not equal, evaporation occurs. Thus, a wave cloud, or a series of lenticular clouds, is capable of forming. These are often mistaken for UFOs because of the saucer-like shape.
Lenticular clouds can stay in place for quite a while which makes them all the more eerie. The one shown above was first noticed in the morning and still there when folks drove home after work.
Questions answered: What are those UFO shaped Lenticular Clouds in the Grande Ronde Valley?
- What causes the UFO shaped Lenticular Clouds in the Grande Ronde Valley?
- UFO shaped Clouds Explained
- UFO Sightings in La Grande, OR
- Does La Grande, Oregon have UFOs?
- UFO Shaped Lenticular Clouds Around La Grande Oregon
- Why we are seeing UFO shaped Lenticular Clouds around La Grande Oregon?
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Top image courtesy Kevin Heater Jan 2019
Lenticular Clouds
Source Jan 9, 2019 Wunderground Weather
A lenticular cloud is a lens-shaped cloud that normally develops on the downwind side of a mountain or mountain range. This occurs when stable, moist air flows over a mountain, creating a series of oscillating waves. If the temperature at the crest of the wave equals the dew point temperature, condensation occurs in a lens formation. As the air falls down the trough of the wave, where the temperature and dew point temperature are not equal, evaporation occurs. Thus, a wave cloud, or a series of lenticular clouds, is capable of forming. These are often mistaken for UFOs because of the saucer-like shape. They can separate into altocumulus standing lenticular, stratocumulus standing lenticular, and cirrocumulus standing lenticular clouds.