11/30/2025
12 miles (20 km) from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia rises the Meehan Range, where David Jamrozik (Member 65,969) saw what looks like Cupid’s bow, caught by the last of the Sun’s rays over the mountains.
The cloud’s smooth edges, and the fact that it formed over mountainous terrain, indicate this is the lenticularis species – in this case, appearing as a mid-level cloud, making it Altocumulus lenticularis. Such formations develop as moist, stable air flows over mountains or hills to create standing waves of rising and dipping wind beyond. Though often like discs or lozenges, the particular shapes of lenticularis clouds depends on the complex interplay between wind and terrain.
While the curves of David’s Altocumulus lenticularis might look like a bow that is pointing downwards, they are actually horizontally aligned, waving towards and away from him. In other words, Cupid’s arrow is aimed not down towards Earth but off into the Tasmanian sunset.
Prescribed to David Post by the Cloud Appreciation Society
