ST. GEORGE – A strange cloud formation hovering over St. George Sunday afternoon raised the curiosity of many.
According to the National Weather Service, this type of cloud is known as an altocumulus standing lenticular cloud, and usually forms during winter and spring months.
A lenticular cloud occurs when, the NWS states, relatively stable, fast moving air is forced up-and-over a topographic barrier that is oriented more or less perpendicular to the direction from which the upper-level wind is blowing. This deflection creates a gravity wave downwind of the topographic barrier not unlike a wave you might generate by throwing a pebble into a pond. When sufficient moisture is present above mountain-top level, lenticular clouds develop within the crest of these mountain waves where the air is rising.
These types of clouds don’t usually form in desert areas because of the dry weather, but because of recent moisture in Southern Utah, the lenticular cloud was able to form.
The last time a lenticular cloud formed in St. George was Oct. 11, 2012, according to epod.usra.edu.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Kaydee Jordison Sorensen, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Layne Muir, St. George News
Linticular cloud over Quail Lake, Hurricane, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Kc Sybrant, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Tae Valdez, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Jenny (NLN), St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Jeff Emmett, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of David Aguirre, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Danielle Brumbaugh, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Dicky Tomasyan, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Dicky Tomasyan, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sussy Flores, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sussy Flores, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of J, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sussy Flores, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sussy Flores, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sussy Flores, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Tawsha Chadburn, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Katie Scott, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Neale Lange, St. George News
Linticular cloud over St. George, Utah, Jan. 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Mike and Nikki Wells, St. George News
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This is it everybody! It’s Moroni coming to take us all to Kolob!!!! Good ol’ Joe Smith is driving the ship!!
More likely it’s the Moron TMU flying high, wearing his tight magic undies a little too snug on his head. You’ve cut off your oxygen again. It’s beginning to cause permanent damage.
This is a Lenticular Cloud, or a stack of 4 or 5 Lenticular clouds, indicating a Mountain Wave condition, caused by high speed winds flowing over a high mountain range. By it’s location I would guess it was caused by Pine Mountain. We had a similar one just about a week ago, but not as big.
UFO or a government conspiracy
Its a morman brainwashing cloud
If you’re going to make fun of the Mormons, at least spell it right
Nothing funny about brainwashing
How about that @Ladybugged. Offensive AND can’t spell. Typical of those “Morman” haters.
What does being Mormon mean?
It means hiding in a cloud of hate
Let’s see, among many things being a Latter-day Saint means believing in God, our Eternal Father and in his son Jesus Christ; recognizing that Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, that it only through him that we are saved and can return as families to a Father in Heaven. As for Koolaid’s comment, it seems apparent from his and other comments on this news site that the “hate” primarily comes from those who apparently have a beef with the LDS Church and their Latter-day Saint neighbors. Most of that bitterness and bile seems to come completely uninformed. Children spouting off on things of which they absolutely know nothing about. But hey, keep it up, you only show yourselves the fools.
I believe in only one God, I believe Jesus died and rose again the third and sits at the right hand side of the Father. I believe Jesus died for my sins. I believe Jesus is the redeemer. And I’m not Mormon. Why the garments?
And why do mormans have their own book?
Sorry, Mormon*
Thanks for sharing @ladybugavenger; we share a few common beliefs. This is perhaps not the forum to answer all your questions, but suffice it to say that garments are symbolic reminders of covenants and commitments made. Many religions have symbolic clothing or items. As far as the other book; the Book of Mormon serves as another testament of the divinity of Jesus Christ, in addition to (not instead of) the Bible. http://www.mormon.org is worth a glance.
Respect thy neighbor.
Your anti-Mormon comments are simply not respectful or Christian. You proclaim to be Christian, but your words refute that.
Why, on an article about a cloud, do hateful anti-mormons bring Mormon theology into it?
It’s unfortunate and disappointing, especially from other supposed Christians.
I should have went with government conspiracy 😉
Hey, that is amazing. Followed that cloud all the way from Vegas. Strangest, most unique shape of a cloud I have ever seen. Took a few pictures. Glad to find out about it!
It was seen in Mesquite, as well.
It seems like stgnews has turned into a platform to bash religion. Wow, how narrow minded can some people be. Here are all these lonely, ignorant people with nothing nice to say about anyone or anything. yes I am talking about you ladybug avenger, koolaid and Magic undies.
Turning into? It’s been this way for a long time with the same ugly trolls every time. They talk about hate, but they are the only ones hating. Just a bunch of sad, sorry hypocrites who have nothing better to do and cannot contribute anything positive to society, apparently because the Mormons are holding them down.
Very cool cloud by the way! Wish I would have seen it, I would have held an ice cream cone up to it to make it look like giant soft serve.
I would love to have seen that picture!
At least we can count on those trolls to spout the same inane comments, twisting the unrelated subjects to their personal hates. After reading the same thing for every article, now I just skip their comments. What a waste of time those commenters are.
But you couldn’t skip over these comments, for good reason. Its so easy for you all to call me and others trolls for making comments that are not trolling comments. Some are in fun, some are serious, and these comments appear to be controversial. 😉
But not in hate…its my personal beliefs and because I disagree with the majority I’m looked at as a hater- great misconception by many
How old are you?
It’s not that you disagree. It’s that you are downright rude and disrespectful of other religions. Referring to the cloud as a Mormon Brain washing? Seriously?!
You haven’t read or simply don’t understand the bible. Proxy work (living performing work for the dead) took place.
Yep, I like the people, I don’t like the religion. I don’t hate the people let’s just clear that up. I think they are confused and its very sad. They do things on the name of religion. Their hearts are in a religion and there hearts should be for God ( one God) you can’t baptize dead people into heaven. That person needed to accept Jesus before they died, not someone doing it for them after there dead. Mormons I do not hate….the religion is off, that’s all, therefore my brainwashing comment. Bit I did feel some hate coming at me for misspelling. I type on my phone and well, I’m not great at it.
People like us who don’t believe in their religion shouldn’t be ostracized and persecuted. Some of the people are okay, but a lot of them aren’t; some are the biggest liars I’ve ever met. I get tired of hearing them call themselves Christians. Their concept of Christianity is their own derived (contrived?) version, made up stuff, just like their contrived versions of Blacks, Israelis and American Indians. Just because they call themselves Christians doesn’t mean they are. You can also call a flock of sheep a flock of ducks, but it doesn’t make them ducks. Their lofty fantasies are way up there in the clouds.
Why don’t you save your dislike for religion comments for the articles they may actually pertain to? You would have a bigger impact instead of seeming ridiculously obsessed.
Mike has a cogent point. Going on a religion-based thread and unloading is par for the course, but bashing your preferred whipping-boy religion using a CLOUD as a weapon (eye roll here) is a bit overboard.
Such commentary is abusive to the rest of us in this context. Some examples from earlier in this thread:
It’s Moroni coming…
morman brainwashing cloud…
It means hiding in a cloud of hate…
You guys need to assess just what you want to be; legit commenters, or trolls. Your choice.
Well, if the commenters wouldn’t have said I’m bashing a religion and I don’t know how to spell we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I made a comment about a cloud in st George and I got called a Mormon hater and don’t know how to spell…I couldn’t let that go without a defense…so all this talk opened up a real conversation, didn’t it.
Grow up ladybug
That is so true. I could have not said it better myself. They can deny this all day long, however this is where its at. The LDS religion is all about people control, like most organized religions. They use the threat of God as leverage to lay down the rules. The followers will never see that though. Any NORMAL person with half a brain will see this if they rally have an unbiased look at the LDS religion. But that unbiased look is what they try to prevent, some might actually wake up you know….. I get what ladybug and the others are saying, trolls or not, they have a point. Non Mormons are generally not as accepted and treated differently, I know from personal experience. That is all part of the brainwashing, convert or disassociate…whatever, nuff said!
That cloud was RIGHT above my house today and it lingered for a couple hours. I never actually payed much attention to it because i thought it wasnt a big deal. I did get a few good pictures of it though.
Darn, I live in Mesquite, but didin’t see it.
That right there is an Obama cloud.
last one was in 2012? I saw one on Friday. Thought it looked like a stack of pancakes.
UFO cloaking cloud…don’t be fooled! They’re here…always watching…. o.O’
And just because I don’t agree with something, and I think the Mormon religion is a cult does not mean I hate all people that are Mormon. It means, don’t you see what youre in? Can’t you see whats going on in the name of your religion? My comments are more to open the eyes to the religion. Not to hate the people that are blind.
@ladybug can you elaborate on “what’s going on in the name of your religion” as it relates to the Mormon/LDS Church?
It’s reached the point that I look to see who the commenter is and if it’s one of your little anti Mormon groupies I don’t even bother to read your dribble. It’s become boring and irritating. If you have some facts and ideas and want to actually have a post or thread to discuss religion then I and many others would join in. But your constantly trying to belittle the Mormons by trying to make every article on here, regardless of the subject, into your anti-agenda is just annoying and shows a lack of respect and intellect.
You don’t even bother to read her dribble, yet here you are commenting on it. Hypocrisy runs deep with you, in all aspects of life.
If someone told me I was in a cult, I would take a deep look at what I’m in…but ( in the world, not religion) there was a time I was blind too….I once was blind but now i see
Here’s the first clue that a church is a cult. Its one word: membership. When you have to be a member to be in a church that’s your first clue its a cult.
Everything you say may be true, but you come off like a bag lady who believes she has Satan trapped in a little tin box and wants everyone else to believe it too.
Here’s a tip. Irritating the general public is a poor way to change hearts and minds.
I don’t know what your comment about Satan means or how you came to say that. But had no one commented on my spelling nothing more would have been said. Maybe the general public needs to be irritated and if I look like the cause of irritation, well, so be it because i know im not the cause
You are assuming that she/he wants to “change hearts and minds.”
Maybe so, but apparently you don’t see or hear the overlying clouds of hatred by the masses. Examples being the selection of religion member into the vacant city council position, blatant disdain for voters and those who actually ran for the office. You see/hear the hatred against hispanics (the reference to them as illegals). Have you read the hateful comments in one religious book about other religions? Why was one church forced by the Federal Government to stop its discriminatory practices? Which religion was primary backer in Proposition 8, Utah’s Amendment 3? That religious cloud of hatred is thick and covers everything. The comments you find on these threads are minute in comparison. Get your head out of those clouds. See things the way the rest of the world sees things, not obscured by the thick fog of a religion.
People question Mormonism a lot on here because they are sick of the many many Mormons bashing everyone else around here. Its fair game. I will throw a question out that has nothing to do with the article but has something to do with the comments. Would Mormons be okay if other religions went around baptizing your dead? I highly doubt Mormons would be alright with it…Why should the rest of us be alright with it?
Amen. Pun intended.
@DUHH, actually, do as you please. If they are dead and there is not life after this then what do I care. If on other hand there is and afterlife, and you’ve sprinkled their grave with a hose and want to call that a baptism, go ahead as well. No complaints from me. In the LDS belief, the baptism is effective only at the choice of the deceased in the afterlife. Nothing automatic about any of it. Dunk away.
HEY.! WHAT ABOUT THE CLOUD.? LOL.!
@LADYBUGAVENGER…Pahleease!!
LADYBUGAVENGER January 4, 2015 at 8:21 pm · Reply
“Its a morman brainwashing cloud”
So your phone auto corrected you to a word that does not exist in the English language (hmmmm?), then you take no responsibility for your comment by blaming the others for being hung up on your misspelled word. I am not here to tout any particular religion, or even religion at all but I think if you (and other frequent commenters on this site) were secure in your own, you wouldn’t feel the need to constantly mock another, especially when the articles have NOTHING to do with it!!! It’s really quite immature and annoying…and that’s all I have to say about that 🙂
PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S A CLOUD IN THE SKY, YOU MAKE IT EMBARRASSING TO LIVE HERE
amen to that!
This is funny. I got to laugh ha ha ha it seems the Xmas spirit has passed. ha ha ha
It only took 10 hours and I went from liking mormon people and not liking the religion to the edge of hating….where’s the love for ladybugavenger
Well, I love you Ms. Ladybugavenger. If some can’t understand satire and your sense of humor then they need to move on and not read your comments. We need a fundraiser for them. #grumpy posters.
How about a fundraiser for Ladybugavenger? Let’s say those grumpy posters donate10%. Maybe they’ll feel better for helping out.
Sounds good, Koolaid. I’ll bring the sound system if ya promise me the first dance.
We love ya ladybug… Ladybug Ladybug she’s the one if. Ladybug can’t then no one can Goooooooooooooo. Ladybug
As a “gentile”, I have first hand experience of you mormons treating decent folks either very poorly or like they don’t exist at all. A lot a you people should really be ashamed of yourselves. Try waking up from you permanent daydream sometime. Utah can be a very bizarre and frustrating place.
@bunny, please read every post on this news story. How many are “decent gentiles” just treating everyone with respect? If you cannot see that these posts are simply angry people who do not like the LDS faith nor its members, then you are blind. Those that comment that seem to be LDS are apparently defending their faith and beliefs on a string that was supposed to be about unusual clouds overhead. I notice that the first comments take a stab at the Mormons. As usual. So please don’t try and be all high and mighty about how your Mormon neighbors treat you bad. Read the posts and tell me where the problem resides.
My comment makes perfect sense to me. Mormon brainwashing. The church is a cult. Not hating just stating my belief. The way I said it was satiricaland sarcastic…But if you all are so confident in your beliefs than pray for me…….and then donate to my fundraiser please
As to my auto correct: I typed in morman my phone auto corrected to Norman so I change the n to an m….not the first time I spelled Mormon wrong. Maybe, one day I will care to pay attention to the spelling of mormon. Thanks for.caring about my auto correct and I take full responsibility for my comments. It was the comments that called me a mormon basher and allowed me an opportunity to go far enough to explain my beliefs and position and even explain my auto correct and spelling. We can agree to disagree but no need for the hate.
Thank you for your love it means alot
Mormans, Mormons, morons, heh….all the same to me. Get over it!
My goodness…who would have thought a cloud formation would spark such a heated debate on grammar and ethics. You guys need to get a life!
Mormons….the only place in our great nation that the mormon religion takes as much heat as it causes is here in Saint George. There are only a few mormons out here that really just suck. the few would be 90% of our population. It still has nothing to do with the flippin cloud.
Yay Ladybug. We be your fan club…. We likes the Ladybug. Goooooooooooooo Ladybug…..
I don’t know what being Mormon means. I can’t tell the difference from the Mormons on bookings, the person I know that calls them self a mormon but cheated on their husband and is pregnant doing meth and the Mormon i know that goes to church every Sunday and wont have sex before marriage but has been married 4 times to have sex. I can’t tell what a Mormon is but they say they are Mormon so I’m left with where is God in that?…..so I’ll just overlook the whole Mormon thing, I stand on what I’ve said. This message is endorsed by ladybugavenger
It’s all lies, all religion is man made and false. Corrupted over time to control the masses through fear. Your fear is your God and your religion a fictional story
20 years ago my husband and his ex wife were MEMBERS in a church, a christian church, praising the Lord and teaching the Bible and my gosh it turned into a cult. And they got out of there. So be true to oneself, to ones heart. To see who you really are and not using something as a coverup to look like you are someone different than who you really are at heart. Everybody knows a fake person, the liar. So be true, honest, and have integrity, and not everyone will agree with you and it doesn’t matter, they may even judge you. Well, I was honest, being true to myself in a news comments area where no one really knows who I am ( or do you?) You just read a comment. I opened up a can of worms, sure I wish I wouldn’t have said that. And I elaborated on it with hopes of my perspective being seen. And it was seen all different kinds of ways. Such is life. Am I confused by people calling themselves Mormon, or christian and when they are liars and cheaters. Ya, I’m confused by that. But I know God is either in the hearts of a man ( or woman) or he’s not. A church is a building. I apologize to all that I have offended.
Looking back, I should have chose government conspiracy cloud….
My intention wasnt to take a stand against a religion although you all know where I stand…I can’t stop people from being offended by me but I did apologize because it wasn’t my intention to get everyone all riled up like that. But, its good to get the debate out there when so many people are taught not to question…goodnight everyone