Undular bores – not just for dinner parties

This gorgeous atmospheric wave pattern, caught by satellite, was visible off Baja California Sur on Sunday. Scripps graduate student James Means wrote:

[Dr.] Larry Armi identifies this as an undular bore trapped by today’s very strong temperature inversion, and probably associated with an interaction between southeasterly flow at upper levels and the lower level sea breeze.

In other words, two layers of the atmosphere collided, creating ripples, like throwing a stone into a pond. For more on undular bores, and to see what they look like from the ground, check out this NASA website.