Honeycombed Clouds Over the Canary Islands

July 25, 2017

Alien sobre teide-1-2 (1)
 
Photographer: Roberto Porto
Summary Authors: Roberto Porto; Jim Foster
 
The bizarre cloud formation shown above took shape when strong winds from the south, at altitudes higher than about 12,000 ft (3,650 m), pushed into the Canary Islands (Spain). Evidently, the interaction of this mid-level air flow with orographic flow in the vicinity of Teide peak (the highest peak in the Canaries at 12,198 ft or 3,718 m) produced the honeycombed pattern when cooler air aloft sifted through a layer of warmer air below. The result was this unforgettable, mid-level lacunosus cloud formation The low Sun makes this scene even more dramatic. Photo taken on May 8, 2017.
 
Photo Details: Camera Model: NIKON D5300; Lens: 15.0 mm f/2.4; Focal Length: 15mm (35mm equivalent: 22mm); Aperture: ƒ/2.4; Exposure Time: 0.0006 s (1/1600); ISO equiv: 100; Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.10 (Macintosh).