Reader shares view of rare occurrence of “wave clouds” as seen from Ferndale

FERNDALE, Wash. — A Whatcom News reader says they took the following photos about 5pm on Monday, February 12th. The cloud formations visible in the photos are referred to as Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds and are rarely observed.

These rolling, wavelike cloud formations are called Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds. These clouds, sometimes referred to as billow clouds or shear-gravity clouds, are named after scientists Lord Kelvin and Hermann von Helmholtz, who discovered the process by which they form.

The rolling cloud motions are often hidden by a large area of cloud cover, or there might be no clouds to illustrate the wave pattern in the atmosphere. Consequently, these clouds are rarely seen. Weather.com