I came across this picture of Sierra Blanca near Ruidoso, NM last night. The peak of Sierra Blanca sits at 11,981 feet, above sea level more than 4,000 feet above Alto, NM where the picture was taken. As a kid, growing up in Ruidoso, we'd say things like, "Wow, that cloud just hunkered down on top of the mountain." just assuming the cloud had come from somewhere else. Looking at how the cloud above seemed to be literally streaming into the peak, I wondered if there was some kind of sciencey correlation between clouds and mountains. I found the answer in an article from the February, 1901 issue of "The School World" by George Chisholm [1] that explained mountains actually help to form clouds, not attract them from afar. Here's how it works. Wind carries air saturated with water vapor into the mountain where it is forced up the slope. As the air rises it expands due the lower air pressure, and as it expands, it becomes colder. ...