Cumulonimbus thunderstorm, artwork. Cumulonimbi are large, turbulent clouds which carry rain (bottom) or hail. They usually form from cumulus clouds a

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Cumulonimbus thunderstorm, artwork. Cumulonimbi are large, turbulent clouds which carry rain (bottom) or hail. They usually form from cumulus clouds at a much lower height, which grow vertically instead of horizontally. The flat anvil-like mass of high cloud at top, known as an anvil dome or thunderhead, is a clear sign of an impending thunderstorm. It forms because the cloud has reached the tropopause, the barrier between the troposphere and the stratosphere, and cannot rise any higher into the warmer air above it. The build-up of energy often leads to the discharge of lightning, as shown here.

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Size: 3856px × 5450px
Photo credit: © GARY HINCKS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, anvil, artwork, black--white, bracken, caithness, cloud, clouds, cloudy, convection, cumulonimb, cumulonimbus, current, dome, environment, flat, geography, hammerhead, helmsdale, illustration, kildonan, lightning, linocut, linoleum, meteorological, meteorology, monochrome, river, scotland, sky, storm, strath, thundercloud, thunderhead, thunderstorm, top, tropopause, type, types, weather, woodcut