rotor cloud

rotor cloud

[′rōd·ər ‚klau̇d]
(meteorology)
Turbulent, altocumulus-type cloud formation found in the lee of some large mountain barriers, particularly in the Sierra Nevadas near Bishop, California; the air in the cloud rotates around an axis parallel to the range. Also known as roll cloud.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

rotor cloud

rotor cloudclick for a larger image
A cloud that forms on the downwind side of a mountain or hill feature. A wave motion is set up on the downwind side. Moist air moving up to the crest of a wave may cool enough to form a cloud. As it sinks to the trough, the cloud evaporates. The clouds thus seem stationary even though the air is moving in waves. The turbulence is often indicated by small rotor clouds at lower levels.
An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
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It was the same briefer who told me he had been looking at the weather some more and there was what looked to be a huge rotor cloud 40 miles long stretching across my proposed route of flight.
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