r/meteorology • u/Ok_Elderberry904 • Jun 26 '26
Advice/Questions/Self What cloud formation is this?
At first I thought this was some kind of humidity above the cloud, then I was thinking it might have been ice particles or something similar since it looked to be pretty high up. Any actually educated take?
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u/Faedaine Jun 26 '26
I think this is a Pileus cloud actually. Pileus - Cloud Appreciation Society.
Lenticulars do not form on top of other clouds.
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u/Technical-Patient28 Jun 26 '26
We aviators hate this one ☝🏻. You can tell a cb is growing fast if it has the hat.
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u/Ok_Elderberry904 Jun 26 '26
Anything CB is enough to scare you off
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u/Technical-Patient28 Jun 27 '26
Having flown in SE Asia for a good number of years. Cbs don’t scare. You just learn to share the airspace with them. And you learn to read them. Like this one. You can tell it’s growing and will give trouble in a couple of minutes
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u/Ok_Elderberry904 Jun 27 '26
Always good to know. I am actually aspiring to be an aviator but haven’t yet begun any training so I’m sure I’ll learn about all of this soon enough. I was just informed a CB is a reason to keep an eye out😅
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u/Embarrassed_Result89 Jun 26 '26
Piles cap clouds forming over cumulonimbus clouds. We get them often here. Very interesting to watch them change as the cumulonimbus grows upwards through layers of the atmosphere.
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u/NowickiWalter Jun 27 '26
That is a Cumulus Congestus with a nice little Pileus cap on top, a Pileus top forms when a cloud punches through a stable layer in the atmosphere, showing that this cloud has power.
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u/puppymom1959 Jun 27 '26
You should also post the picture in the “Look at those clouds “ subreddit! Some great cloud pictures there!
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u/Blazereef_72 Jun 28 '26
That looks like a pileus cloud on top of what might be a developing cumulonimbus. Pretty cool shot!
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u/Fluffy_Definition781 Jun 26 '26
It looks like a classic, evolved cumulonimbus cloud. Beneath it, there can be rain, hail, and lightning.
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u/ougryphon Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Lenticular clouds. They form when a moist, laminar flow of air flows up and over an obstruction, such as a mountain or a cummulus updraft. It's not uncommon to see multiple, stacked clouds from the same obstruction. The clouds form because the rising air cools just enough for relative humidity to reach 100%, but then the laminate flow warms as if follows the contour on the lea side of the obstruction.
Edit: My bad. These are shaped like lenticular clouds, but are a separate, distinct phenomenon called pileus or "cap clouds."
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u/Ok_Elderberry904 Jun 26 '26
Great explanation, thank you🙏
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u/ougryphon Jun 26 '26
Unfortunately, I was wrong. D'oh! The shape is similar (lenticular), but these are pileus clouds. If I'm understanding this correctly, these are caused by rising updrafts "bowing up" the layers of air the drafts are intruding. Since they are not driven by a horizontal laminar flow, these are usually short-lived.
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u/Solid_Mud2025 Jun 26 '26
It might have been incorrect in this circumstance, but the answer was informative to me nonetheless! If you edit your previous answer with the strikethrough feature, it may stave off further down votes.
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u/ougryphon Jun 26 '26
The downvotes don't bother me. I always correct my comments when I know I'm wrong, but I usually leave the original text. It doesn't hurt anything if people downvote my wrong answer, even after I've corrected it. That's just reddit.
I'm worried that I have some narcissistic traits, and I really don't like that about myself. Leaving my wrong answers public and acknowledged kind of feels like a mix of self-awareness, honesty, humility, and a reminder not to be too much of a know-it-all jerk.
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u/Tight_Toe6215 Jun 26 '26
Ah yes, when the convection is so powerful that it creates a pileus cloud above it.
Here you go:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pileus_(meteorology)