Amazing Cloud Formation of the Day: These wave-like cloud formations, spotted in Birmingham, Alabama by Redditor alison_bee, were caused by a phenomenon called Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.
As Redditor/meteorologist zennisunoracle explained, Kelvin-Helmholtz waves form in the morning, when the atmospheric layers closer to the Earth’s surface are more stable than the layers above them. Wind shear destabilizes the top of that stable layer, causing the stable air to lift, cool and condense into a visible pattern that looks like the top of a wave.
Kelvin-Helmholtz waves aren’t just an earthly phenomenon. They’ve been spotted (at much larger sizes) on Saturn and Jupiter.
Check out some more photos and a video of the Alabama waves after the jump.
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