A phenomenal display of lenticular clouds near Estes Park, Colorado on the evening of January 5, 2012. Lenticular clouds are a type of wave cloud that typically occur on the lee side of mountain ranges and form when air is forced upward as it moves over higher terrain. In winter, these clouds are often accompanied by downsloping winds ushering in warmer weather to the Front Range of the Rockies. The lack of snow in the foreground is evidence of prior downsloping and of the relatively warm, dry conditions that have prevailed in Colorado during the early winter. Photo taken at 5:02 p.m. by Richard H. Hahn. His website: http://www.hahndigitalarts.com/HahnDigitalArts.com/ and posted on Earth Sciences Picture of the day.
