Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds resemble waves breaking in the ocean. These
clouds are formed between two layers of air with different densities and
traveling at different speeds. If a warm, less dense layer of air
exists over a layer of colder, denser air, and the wind shear across the
two layers is strong enough, eddies will develop along the boundary.
Evaporation and condensation of the eddies render them visible as wave
shaped clouds.
The cloud is named after Lord Kelvin and Hermann
von Helmholtz who studied the dynamics of two fluids of different
densities when a small disturbance, such as a wave, was introduced at
the boundary connecting the fluids. The Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
occurs not only in clouds but also in the ocean, Saturn's bands,
Jupiter's Red Spot, and the sun's corona.
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/07/kelvin-helmholtz-clouds.html
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