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Cumulonimbus (from Latin cumulus 'swell' and nimbus 'cloud') is a dense, towering, vertical cloud, [1] typically forming from water vapor condensing in the lower troposphere that builds upward carried by powerful buoyant air currents.
Towering vertical clouds have the greatest ability to produce intense precipitation events, but these tend to be localized unless organized along fast-moving cold fronts. Showers of moderate to heavy intensity can fall from cumulus congestus clouds. Cumulonimbus, the largest of all cloud genera, has the capacity to produce very heavy showers.
Cumulonimbus mamma (WMO genus and supplementary feature) – Cb with pouch-like protrusions that hang from under anvil or cloud base. Cumulonimbus pannus (WMO genus and accessory cloud) – shredded sections attached to main Cb cloud. Cumulonimbus pileus (WMO genus and accessory cloud) – capped, hood-shaped cloud above a cumulonimbus cloud.
Cumulus congestus clouds compared against a cumulonimbus cloud in the background. Due to reflectivity, clouds cool the earth by around 12 °C (22 °F), an effect largely caused by stratocumulus clouds. However, at the same time, they heat the earth by around 7 °C (13 °F) by reflecting emitted radiation, an effect largely caused by cirrus clouds.
A waterspout is a rotating column of air that occurs over a body of water, usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud in contact with the water and a cumuliform cloud. [1] [2] There are two types of waterspout, each formed by distinct mechanisms. The most common type is a weak vortex known as a "fair weather" or "non-tornadic" waterspout.
A hot tower is a tropical cumulonimbus cloud that reaches out of the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, and into the stratosphere. [1] These formations are called "hot" because of the large amount of latent heat released as water vapor that condenses into liquid and freezes into ice within the cloud.
Turkey tower is a slang term for a narrow, tall, individual towering cloud from a small cumulus cloud which develops and suddenly falls apart. [7] Sudden development of turkey towers could signify the breaking or weakening of a capping inversion , [ 8 ] and an area where these consistently form is an "agitated area", a term that applies to ...
A funnel cloud is a funnel-shaped cloud of condensed water droplets, associated with a rotating column of wind and extending from the base of a cloud (usually a cumulonimbus or towering cumulus cloud) but not reaching the ground or a water surface. [1] A funnel cloud is usually visible as a cone-shaped or needle like protuberance from the main ...