A bunch of UFO-shaped clouds are being spotted hovering above Rotorua.
Several people have snapped photos of the peculiar-looking clouds from Rotorua to Tongariro National Park.
Kendra Brown noticed the formation floating over Tongariro National Park. She said the display was "awesome" and just "kept getting better".
According to Earthsky.org, the UFO clouds are a type of formation called lenticular clouds.
Lenticular clouds are clouds that don't move and form mostly in the troposphere, which is the lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere.
The lens-shaped clouds typically form when stable warm air flows over a mountain or range of mountains.
The tall standing Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu likely providing the perfect environment for these clouds to appear.
As the air flows over the peak, standing waves may form against the side of it. If the conditions are right and the temperature within the wave drops to dew point, the point at which condensation forms, moisture may condense into a lenticular cloud.
If you see one you better grab a picture quickly, because they can vanish just as fast as they appear - as the moist air travels back down into the trough of the wave the cloud can evaporate back into vapour.
The clouds are rarely seen to form in flat, low-lying areas.
It's not the first time Lenticular clouds have graced the skies of Rotorua, a formation was spotted at sunset in July last year.
Weather Watch says these clouds are common in areas like Otago and Canterbury where "westerly quarter winds" often sweep over mountain ranges in just the right way.
Pilot Geoff Beckett noticed one while flying over Otago in August 2020, he said it was the "most impressive" cloud he had ever seen.
