That's pretty cool. I've seen patterned cloud formations that might have been due to similar atmospheric conditions, but never as well defined as these. Very cool.
Strange things happen in the atmosphere - and not just the atmosphere of Earth. I think Saturn's North pole probably takes the prize in this category:
Infrared observations of the south pole of Saturn as taken by the Cassini mission in 2007 and 2008 (NASA)
The entire north pole of Saturn is now mapped in detail in infrared, with features as small as 120 kilometers (75 miles) visible in the images. Time-lapse movies of the clouds circling the north pole show the whirlpool-like cyclone there is rotating at 530 kilometers per hour (325 miles per hour), more than twice as fast as the highest winds measured in cyclonic features on Earth. This cyclone is surrounded by an odd, honeycombed-shaped hexagon, which itself does not seem to move while the clouds within it whip around at high speeds, also greater than 500 kilometers per hour (300 miles per hour). Oddly, neither the fast-moving clouds inside the hexagon nor this new cyclone seem to disrupt the six-sided hexagon. – NASA Press Release (Oct. 13)
More: http://www.astroengine.com/2008/10/saturns-hexagonal-north-pole-what-is-causing-it/
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