An extraordinary fog bank appeared just off the coast of New Jersey on Sunday. In fact, the fog was so unusual-looking that beach lifeguards in Sea Girt, New Jersey, sent the photos to the National Weather Service's forecast office fore New Jersey and Philadelphia, where one meteorologist called it the "coolest fog photo ever."

Weekend 2 in the books & ended w a fog bank, some surf & a wicked storm that came through #swimnearalifeguard pic.twitter.com/ZgRmj7AkUa — Sea Girt Lifeguards (@SGLifeguards) May 31, 2015

The NWS explained the cause of the tsunami-looking fog bank by saying that warm air blowing off comparatively cold ocean waters caused the air to cool rapidly and condense, forming the fog just offshore.

See also: Magical photographs show Sydney blanketed in fog

The winds blowing onshore, where temperatures were warmer, caused the fog bank to have trouble moving inland, with clear skies observed on satellite imagery just west of the beaches, while thunderstorms were forming farther inland.

Mother Nature was really showing off yesterday with the special effects. Coolest fog photo ever. pic.twitter.com/wX0QBTC2qQ — Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) June 1, 2015

Fog is common at this time of year along the New Jersey Shore as well as much of Long Island because air temperatures are warming much faster than ocean temperatures, forming perfect conditions for dense, low clouds.

Rarely, though, do fog banks look like this one did. One imagines Jeff Bridges looking at these pictures and having flashbacks to his 1996 film about an ill-fated ocean voyage, White Squall.