National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Widespread High Wind Event; Heavy Snow Expected from the Northern Plains to Northeast

Widespread high winds will continue to impact the interior Northwest, northern Plains, and Upper Midwest. Gusty winds and low relative humidity will bring critical fire weather to the central and southern Plains and south coastal Texas today. A storm tracking across the northern Plains, Great Lakes and into the Northeast U.S. will bring heavy snow and gusty winds into Saturday. Read More >

Wave clouds (or gravity waves): These form when stable air moves over a raised land feature, such as hills or mountains, and is forced upward. Gravity then causes the air to fall back down, and it begins to oscillate, creating that ripple effect. 

 

 

This visible satellite image was taken at 400 pm PDT 9 Sep 2000. The cloud lines oriented north to south are wave clouds. They are the result of west-to-east wind flowing over the Cascade mountains of Washington and the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Alberta.