Unusual cloud formations over the Barents Sea.

IMAGE SPECS: Royalty Free

Description:
April 5, 2009 - Unusual cloud formations over the Barents Sea. The Barents Sea is north of Scandanavia and Russia and part of the Arctic Ocean. At the bottom of the image you can see Russia (right), Finland (west of Russia), Sweden (west of Finland), and Norway (to the north of Finland and Sweden). The lines of clouds are called cloud streets. These are caused when low-level winds moving between and over obstacles cause the clouds to line up into rows (much like streets) that match the direction of the winds. At the point where the clouds first form streets, they're very narrow and well-defined. But as they age, they lose their definition, and begin to spread out and rejoin each other into a larger cloud mass.