Kelvin-Helmholtz Clouds Above Ft. Collins Colorado

March 28, 2008

032808

Provided by: George Janson, Colorado State University
Summary author: George Janson

The photo above shows a short segment of Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds as observed at Christman Field, on the northwest outskirts of Fort Collins, Colorado. They persisted for only about 10 minutes, enough time for me to walk to a part of the field where I could avoid power lines and other foreground intrusions and snap this picture. Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds form in the presence of significant wind shears -- a velocity difference between adjacent cloud layers. The curious spiral cloud at right center isn't directly associated with the Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds. In the background are the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Photo taken on November 21, 2007.