Lentikularni oblaci iznad planine Fudži ( sa
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Awareness Revolution )
Such extraordinary cloud formations are the result of high velocity or jet stream winds being forced over a barrier or mountain. The resultant laminar flow causes the air to move in wave-like layers. Waves develop above the mountain and on the leeward side. If the air contains sufficient moisture, characteristic standing-wave lenticular clouds will form.
Mountain wave activity is usually present in the vicinity of lenticular cloud formations. Mountain wave patterns may extend as much as several hundred miles downwind of a mountain range. A wave may repeat itself several times with amplitude and intensity decreasing over distance. Satellite photographs of the Rocky Mountains have shown mountain waves extending as far as 700 miles downwind of the range. Along the east coast area of the United States, such photographs of the Appalachian chain show that mountain wave activity can exist over 100 miles eastward. Mountain wave activity may exist from the surface up through the tropopause and into the lower stratosphere.
