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Lava Beds Rest Area, I-15, Idaho
Another interesting feature while we were stopped were these clouds. Our
trip had been dogged by wildfires- it was a very dry summer and fires were
everywhere we went. In this area, the fires were somewhere east of us, and
the clouds had been moving over a hot spot. As they moved, the rising hot
air would puncture the cloud, sending the cloud in a column up to a higher
elevation where a different thermocline cause the cloud to either stop or spread
out. I'm guessing that the lower level winds were variable and sometimes
interrupted the rising column of heated air, or otherwise the raised clouds
would have been continuous instead of dotted, as they are here.
©2003, Jeffrey L. Cooper
