Lens-shaped clouds often forming near mountains are called?

Lens-shaped clouds often forming near mountains are called?

• A. Cumulus clouds
• B. Lenticular clouds
• C. Stratus clouds
• D. Cirrus clouds

Answer: (B)

This question tests recognizing cloud shapes produced by air flowing over mountains. When moist air moves up and over peaks, it can set up a standing wave in the atmosphere. The air in the crests cools and condenses into a smooth, lens-shaped patch, forming lens-shaped clouds. These are called lenticular clouds and they often appear near mountain ranges, indicating mountain-wave activity in stable air. Cumulus clouds are the puffy, heaped varieties that rise with convection, not the smooth, stationary lens shape tied to mountains. Stratus clouds form flat, even layers across the sky, not lens-shaped patches. Cirrus clouds are high, wispy ice-crystal clouds, far above the mountains. So the lens-shaped ones near mountains are lenticular clouds.

This question tests recognizing cloud shapes produced by air flowing over mountains. When moist air moves up and over peaks, it can set up a standing wave in the atmosphere. The air in the crests cools and condenses into a smooth, lens-shaped patch, forming lens-shaped clouds. These are called lenticular clouds and they often appear near mountain ranges, indicating mountain-wave activity in stable air.

Cumulus clouds are the puffy, heaped varieties that rise with convection, not the smooth, stationary lens shape tied to mountains. Stratus clouds form flat, even layers across the sky, not lens-shaped patches. Cirrus clouds are high, wispy ice-crystal clouds, far above the mountains. So the lens-shaped ones near mountains are lenticular clouds.