Lenticular clouds form an amazing sky o’er Montrose
Published 5:40 am Saturday, July 11, 2026
Sometimes the sky puts on a show that stops people in their tracks.
That was the case on Friday when a series of photographs from Cathy Aitken landed in the Trail Times inbox, capturing an unusual cloud formation hovering above the mountains near Montrose.
At first glance, the smooth, layered cloud resembles a giant flying saucer or a stack of pancakes suspended in the sky.
While its appearance may seem otherworldly, the formation is a well-known meteorological phenomenon called a lenticular cloud.
Lenticular clouds form when moist air flows over mountain ranges and creates atmospheric waves on the downwind side.
As the air rises in one of those waves, it cools and water vapour condenses into a smooth, lens-shaped cloud. As the air descends, the moisture evaporates, giving the cloud its distinctive, stationary appearance.
Although the cloud may appear to be standing still, air is constantly moving through it.
The mountains surrounding Trail, Montrose and Rossland provide ideal conditions for lenticular clouds when strong winds aloft combine with stable layers of air.
The photographs also appear to capture towering cumulus clouds developing beneath the lenticular cloud, highlighting two very different weather processes occurring at the same time.
While the smooth cloud above formed in stable airflow over the mountains, the billowing clouds below were likely growing through rising pockets of warm air.
Lenticular clouds are often mistaken for storm clouds or even unidentified flying objects because of their distinctive shape, but they are generally not associated with severe weather at ground level.
Their presence does, however, indicate strong winds at higher elevations, making them of particular interest to glider pilots, who use the associated mountain waves to gain altitude.
While lenticular clouds are not uncommon in mountainous regions such as the West Kootenay, they rarely display such well-defined layers, making the Montrose photographs an especially striking example.
For anyone who glanced skyward that day, the view served as a reminder that some of nature’s most remarkable displays require nothing more than the right combination of wind, mountains and water.