Randy Sharp submitted this photo and note: “Flying back in my TB21 Socata from Medford, Oregon, after dropping off my brother-in-law when I saw this unusual cloud topping the peak of Mount Shasta in California. Headwind was > 30 knots at 10,500 feet. There was no turbulence, which was unusual for the winds aloft.”
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fwiw, that cloud formation on Shasta is not unusual. One flight near there had a mountain wave I encountered that was very impressive. In my M20J I had the autopilot holding altitude, while the ground speed oscillated as low as 125 mph and as high 205 or so. There were six or seven cycles of oscillations and only a few burbles of disturbed air. The flight aware track for velocity looked like a saw tooth. I would not have wanted to be there in turbulent air and was quite surprised that I didn’t have to turn back.
That is a very special area.
To clarify, yes the cloud formation above Mt Shasta is not that unusual but not having orographic turbulence with the high wind velocity was.
Flying for the USAF in a PaveHawk (MH60G) we were dispatched to perform a search and rescue mission around the mountain searching for 2 lost climbers, the Mountain wave turbulence made the mission very difficult. (But of course we were flying contour searches within 500 ft of the surface)