We’re used to seeing clouds pass by in the sky without thinking too much about them.

Sure, they bring shade from the sun and sometimes soak us with a sudden deluge, but we know that ultimately they will pass on by – and go and drench someone else instead.

But that’s not quite the case in the Otago region in southern New Zealand, where one specific cloud has become so common that the locals have named it.

Now known as the “Taieri Pet”, this unusually shaped cloud is an almost permanent fixture on the landscape, whilst being UFO-like in its appearance.

So what is the Taieri Pet?

Well it is a type of cloud known as a ‘lenticular cloud’. Lenticular clouds are often stationary and disc shaped. They are usually quite flat in appearance, a result of the stable air that they form in, and are common near mountains, since they usually form as a result of moist air flowing over these tall, rocky structures.

The Taieri Pet is an elongated lenticular cloud, meaning that it is like a stretched-out disc, and its formation and common presence is a result of the area’s unique weather and landscape, s John Law, a meteorologist from New Zealand’s MetService explained in a recent article from NASA’s Earth Observatory:

“The Taieri Pet is a common feature found in the skies near Middlemarch, Otago. Here, strong winds from the northwest pour over the steep-sided, flat-topped Rock and Pillar Range, which runs almost perpendicular to those prevailing winds.

As the cloud forms on the crest of this wave, it remains almost stationary in the sky and is shaped by the strong winds blowing through it.”

As tranquil as it looks floating in the sky above southern New Zealand, clouds like this can be a problematic sign.

However, as Law continues, if you are airborne, a lenticular cloud like this one could be a warning:

“The appearance of the Taieri Pet is a great indicator of strong winds high in the atmosphere. Conditions in and around these types of clouds pose aviation hazards in the form of vertical currents, severe turbulence, and icing. In some settings, lenticulars can signal that precipitation is on the way.”

But for those on the ground who have adopted the cloud this is less of an issue; here, the Taieri Pet is merely a novel friend in the sky.

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