<p>Very rarely in the USA Northern Mid West, maybe once a year at most, I will see a very smooth, concave cloud floating over the sky that looks exactly like a lenticular cloud, and only a few minutes, it starts to dissipate. What would explain this phenomena?  </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-27T11:50:39.663Z
The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_cloud shows one expired reference to something that suggest that shear winds created by fronts might be the reason.
Communisty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-27T18:24:39.833Z
There's definitely a lot of storm fronts in my area throughout the year, I've definitely seen a lot of weird and uniquely shaped clouds, but none as rare as the lenticular.
RayOfHope
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-27T23:46:00.357Z
Is there a lake in that direction, sometimes lakes can alter the winds around them.
John
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-28T02:41:44.550Z
Will develop an answer if I can find time. Mountain waves are anchored to a ridge but can excite a wave that extends hundreds of miles downwind. At the leaks of the wave anywhere along it where the moisture is right you can get clouds like you have seen.
casey
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-29T00:12:21.887Z
@John yes they usually appear right above or near the large lakes in my area.
RayOfHope
<meteorology>
Why do I occasionally see a lenticular cloud when there's no mountains for hundreds of miles?
RayOfHope
# Why do I occasionally see a lenticular cloud when there's no mountains for hundreds of miles?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-27)

Very rarely in the USA Northern Mid West, maybe once a year at most, I will see a very smooth, concave cloud floating over the sky that looks exactly like a lenticular cloud, and only a few minutes, it starts to dissipate. What would explain this phenomena?

**Tags:** meteorology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_cloud shows one expired reference to something that suggest that shear winds created by fronts might be the reason.  
> **username_0**: There's definitely a lot of storm fronts in my area throughout the year, I've definitely seen a lot of weird and uniquely shaped clouds, but none as rare as the lenticular.  
> **username_2**: Is there a lake in that direction, sometimes lakes can alter the winds around them.  
> **username_3**: Will develop an answer if I can find time. Mountain waves are anchored to a ridge but can excite a wave that extends hundreds of miles downwind. At the leaks of the wave anywhere along it where the moisture is right you can get clouds like you have seen.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 yes they usually appear right above or near the large lakes in my area.  

---

## 0 answers

