View of Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina, USA

© Adam Jones/Danita Delimon

A sea of clouds rolls in

This misty scene comes to you from Pisgah National Forest, in the US state of North Carolina. The western part of the state includes parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which run across the eastern USA and, in this particular stretch, are sometimes home to an unusual weather phenomenon known as thermal inversion.

If you get up early enough at this time of year, you might be lucky enough to witness a sea of clouds forming in the valleys, peaking around sunrise. It happens on cool, crisp nights when cold, dense air at the mountaintops starts to sink. If conditions are right, it mixes with moisture in the air to form spectacular undulating clouds in the valleys.

Pisgah National Forest was established on this day in 1916 and boasts more than 500,000 acres of mountainous peaks, cascading waterfalls and heavily forested slopes. With hundreds of miles of trails, it’s also a popular place for hiking, backpacking, cycling, fishing and rock climbing.