Iridescent clouds

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Iridescent clouds

Location           : Top of Saddleback Mountain, Kiama, NSW, Australia
Date                  : 2022-05-07  11am
Photographers: 1st one - Lisa Li.  Rest - Paul.

An iridescent cloud is an uncommon phenomenon, the result of diffraction ... small droplets of water or small crystals of ice individually scattering light.

If the small droplets/crystals are of similar size, their cumulative effect is seen as iridescent colours. The cloud must be optically thin, so that most rays encounter only a single droplet. Iridescence is therefore mostly seen at cloud edges or in semi-transparent clouds.


Here is another iridescent cloud I photographed 7 years ago.
Location: Gungartan Mountain, Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, Australia
Date       : 2015-03-13

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Orographic fog/cloud in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia

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Orographic fog/cloud ... More specifically, orographic waterfall cloud
because it looks like a waterfall

Location: Narrow Neck Plateau, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Date: 2021-02-28, around 10:15 am
Photographer: John Graham

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Mammatus clouds

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Mammatus clouds are pouch-like protrusions hanging from the undersides of clouds, usually thunderstorm anvil clouds, but other types of clouds as well.

Composed primarily of ice, these cloud pouches are visible in the sky for only about 10 to 15 minutes.

Aside from their magnificent beauty, mammatus clouds are interesting in part because they are formed by sinking air; whereas most clouds are formed by rising air.

You can use Google to search for beautiful images of mammatus clouds. But I had the good fortune to witness one while going to a hiking trip in Glenbrook Gorge in Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia.

It was my first time to see such clouds !
I was driving at the time. I saw the clouds but didn’t have a chance to stop the car.

But 老炊 had the opportunity to snap this picture over Glenbrook Railway Station.

2020-05-31, shortly after 7am

Photographer: 老炊

More photographs on my Glenbrook Gorge hiking trip are in this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l5hw2Ep4QbmcH1OHb31He1fCfSQdIId5/view?usp=sharing

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Please visit my main page at http://mntviews.blogspot.com/

Lenticular clouds

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I had the good fortune to see these lenticular clouds on a hiking trip to climb Mt Anderson (1997 meters) in Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, Australia.

The photographs here were taken halfway between Guthega and Mt Anderson ... 2020 March 22.

The same cloud taken a few minutes later

A different cloud taken at the same spot as the previous pics

The first time I saw a lenticular cloud was in 2014 September on a trip to climb Mont Blanc in France.  (The main peak here is the summit of Mont Blanc, 4810 meters.)

Photos and trip report on climbing Mont Blanc are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/mont-blanc-france.html

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Clouds over Mt Amos, Tasmania, Australia

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Unusual cloud formation over Mt Amos, Freycinet National Park, Tasmania, Australia
Can someone please let me know ... What type of cloud is it ?

(Photo taken while climbing up Mt Amos   ...   Date: 2017-01-28  9:53am)

I climbed Mt Amos twice:
2017 Jan ... Plain vanilla up & down Mt Amos
Photos & trip report: http://mntviews.blogspot.com/2019/02/mt-amos-freycinet-nat-pk-tas-australia.html

2019 Feb ... As part of Hazards Traverse ... climb over Mt Amos, Mt Dove, Mt Baudin, Mt Parsons
Photos & trip report: http://mntviews.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-hazards-amos-dove-baudin-parsons.html

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Moses with a tablet

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Technically, Moses was the first person with a tablet downloading data from the cloud.

And due to the first commandment, Moses became the first person to have a tablet with fake news.

The first commandment is:
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me."
Exodus 20:2-3

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Clouds hugging top of mountain range

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This photo is the Tinderry Mountain Range taken at 7:37pm, 2017 January 12, near the small town of Michelago, NSW, Australia ... specifically, on Monaro Highway, 1 km south of the turn off to Ryrie Street (into Michelago), and looking towards the east.

The white stuff covering the mountain range is not snow. They are clouds. But notice it is clear blue sky everywhere !

Is there a meteorologist, budding meteorologist, pretend meteorologist out there who can explain this phenomenon?  (I think it is called orographic cloud / fog.)

By the way, the Tinderry Mountains are interesting to climb. Photos and an account of the climb are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/tinderry-twin-tinderry-peak-nsw.html

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Iridescent cloud

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An iridescent cloud ~~~

It is an uncommon phenomenon, the result of diffraction ... small droplets of water or small crystals of ice individually scattering light.

If the small droplets/crystals are of similar size, their cumulative effect is seen as iridescent colours. The cloud must be optically thin, so that most rays encounter only a single droplet. Iridescence is therefore mostly seen at cloud edges or in semi-transparent clouds.

You may have seen this type of cloud in your own travel, or seen more colourful photos on the internet.  But it is so much sweeter if you can capture it with your own camera.

Above photo was taken on 2015 March, during a climbing trip to Gungartan Mountain in Kosciuszko National Park in NSW, Australia. Photos and trip report of that climb are in:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/gungartan-kerries-ridge-nsw-australia.html

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Lenticular Clouds

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Lenticular cloud is a rarely seen cloud formation.
This one is observed over West Yorkshire
in Britain.

The below photo is in the sky above Grytviken,
South Georgia island,
at the cold edge of Southern Atlantic Ocean.

Image Credit: Masumi Tashiro

For more information on lenticular clouds, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_cloud

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https://mntviews.blogspot.com/