Rare wave clouds spotted in the skies over Virginia
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}These clouds were literally rolling in.
A woman in Virginia captured the moment earlier this week when a rare cloud formation was spotted in the skies near Roanoke.
Amy Christie Hunter, who takes landscape photos as a hobby, said her "jaw dropped" when she spotted the clouds rolling over Smith Mountain on Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I wasn’t chasing any weather, it just appeared right before my eyes," she told Fox News. "It was a once in a lifetime moment for sure!"
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Hunter said the moment happened so quickly, she barely had enough time to grab her phone to snap a picture. She then posted the photo to Facebook, which went viral.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rare wave-shaped clouds were spotted in the skies over Virginia on Tuesday near Roanoke. (Amy Christie Hunter)
The clouds that Hunter spotted are known as Kelvin-Helmholtz Wave Clouds, which National Weather Service says are "vertical waves in the air associated with wind shear across statically-stable regions."
The clouds "can appear as breaking waves and as braided patterns in radar images and cloud photos," according to the NWS.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The waves in the cloud are also an indication of severe wind shear, according to the forecasters.
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"An extremely rare phenomenon where a cloud produces a billowing wave pattern," the U.K.'s Met Office notes. "They occur when there is a strong vertical shear between two air streams causing winds to blow faster at the upper level than at the lower levels."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The clouds are more likely to appear on windy days and are often "good indicators" of possible aircraft turbulence.