Taieri Pet

The Taieri Pet is a lenticular cloud formation that occurs in the Strath-Taieri region of Otago in the South Island of New Zealand.

Lenticular clouds form when strong northwesterly winds flow up and over the mountain range, creating a standing wave.

The cloud is a common feature in the skies near town of Middlemarch in the Strath-Taieri, a large glacial valley and river plateau in inland Otago.

[1][2][3] A Landsat 8 satellite image taken on 7 September 2024 showed the Taieri Pet as an elongated cloud lying parallel to the Rock and Pillar Range and to the north of Middlemarch.

[9] The Taieri Pet was also the name given to a local newsletter published by Middlemarch branch of Rural Women New Zealand for almost 40 years from 1982.