Rare Wave-Shaped Clouds Form Over Virginia – The Photo Is Crazy!

Amy Christie Hunter / Facebook

This Tuesday (June 18) a group of clouds formed to create one of the rarest cloud formations that look like ocean waves floating through the sky.

https://www.facebook.com/amychristiehunter/posts/2490709087619663

“Very cool clouds rolling over the mountain tops at Smith Mountain Lake this evening. They are called Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds. I sent the photo to our local news station and the meteorologist replied to me saying they are very rare and usually not this defined.” Amy wrote on her post.

Rare “Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves” Clouds

These type of clouds as mentioned above are called “Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves” or as the National Weather Service likes to define them, “vertical waves in the air associated with wind shear across statically-stable regions.”

They formed over the Virginia sky and the photo was taken by Amy Hunter who shared the photo to Facebook and her local news station. The photo on her personal page went viral getting over 500 shares but when major news sources started sharing it that’s when it really blew up.

Watch the video below to see more of these clouds and learn about them.