Having just flown over the good ol’ Sea of Okhotsk two days ago I couldn’t help but be curious about these amazing cloud formations (called cloud streets) on Pink Tentacle.

This photograph (above), taken June 18 from a Japan Coast Guard aircraft off the northeastern coast of Hokkaido, shows a bird’s-eye view of cloud streets over the Sea of Okhotsk. According to the Sapporo Meteorological Observatory, these low-altitude stratocumulus clouds were rolled into long, distinctive ribbons after becoming trapped in air currents. While it is not uncommon for wind to form such patterns in stratocumulus clouds, photos that clearly show the clouds rolled into strips are rare, says the observatory.

Here’s some video of the phenomena. The audio at the beginning is a little dicey. It’s also in Japanese, but the visuals are breathtaking.