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Take a look at these eerie clouds over Mt. Washington

A couple skiing in New Hampshire snapped a photo of the strange cloud cluster and asked meteorologist Keith Carson for a diagnosis.

CARROLL, N.H. — Editor's note: The video attached to this story was published Jan. 17. 

Clouds pass overhead every day, and sometimes you see one that catches your eye, but I'm not talking about the ones that look like a unicorn or your mother's cat.

Maine residents Jen and Mike Archibald were enjoying a day of skiing at Bretton Woods Ski Area in New Hampshire yesterday afternoon when suddenly they noticed an odd grouping of clouds over Mt. Washington.

"We thought the clouds were so cool and thought to ourselves, 'We should ask Keith!'" Jen Archibald said.

The couple sent NEWS CENTER Maine the photo, and our meteorologist Keith Carson identified the clouds in a snap, as "lenticular clouds."

But what exactly are lenticular clouds, and why do they look like a stack of pancakes?

"It’s the air being forced uphill by terrain (in this case a mountain) until it reaches the level in the atmosphere in which it can saturate and turn into a cloud," Carson said. "The base of the cloud represents what's called the LCL, the Lifting Condensation Level."

Although these clouds look majestic in winter, Carson said "in theory" it can happen any time of the year.

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