“I just thought it was very, very bizarre.” Metservice forecaster Gerard Bellam there was no special meaning, just that “we have a decent amount of wind over the Taranaki mountains on Good Friday”.
Wendy Ryder/Supplied
In the 10 years Ryder has lived in Inglewood she has never seen wave clouds like this. Bellam said the formations were mountain wave clouds, which are also known as or lenticular clouds. They are created as stable air flows over raised lands features like mountain ranges, and can form directly above or in the lee (downwind) of the mountains, he said. Bellam said they were common in New Zealand, especially on the east coast due to prevailing westerly flow.