‘Stunning’ wavelike clouds spotted over Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. What caused them?

A rare wavelike cloud formation rolled across the sky over Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour in late October, its undulating curves bathed in gold and pink hues amid the glow of the setting sun.

The Hong Kong Observatory shared the image on social media on Sunday, saying the short-lived atmospheric phenomenon was known as a fluctus cloud formation.

The image garnered at least 200 “likes” within the first two hours of being posted online, with some describing the natural phenomenon as “stunning”.

Fluctus clouds formed at the boundary between two layers of air with different temperatures and speeds but moving in the same direction, the forecaster said.

The layer with a slower speed cuts into the faster-moving one, producing the cloud’s wavy pattern.

The forecaster also said Hong Kong would experience another week of fine weather, with temperatures ranging from 22 to 29 degrees Celsius (84 Fahrenheit).