Illustration of cumulonimbus clouds, tall, dense, and involved in thunderstorms and other intense weather. Cumulonimbus means

Low clouds: Cumulonimbus 1

Illustration of cumulonimbus clouds, tall, dense, and involved in thunderstorms and other intense weather. Cumulonimbus means "column rain" in Latin. It is a result of atmospheric instability. These clouds can form alone, in clusters, or along a cold front in a squall line. They create lightning through the heart of the cloud. Cumulonimbus storm cells can produce heavy rain (particularly of a convective nature) and flash flooding, as well as straight-line winds.

meteorology climate weather atmosphere sky storm rain squall flood wind

Author(s)Tracey Saxby
Author CompanyIntegration and Application Network
Date Created2005-06-27
AlbumEcosystems > Meteorology/Climate
TypeSymbol
Project(s)USA-Australia Virtual Environmental Partnership
Dimensions339 x 501
Filesize13.9 kB (svg)   47.1 kB (png)
Number of Downloads1201
Filetype(s) SVG     PNG
LicenseAttribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Required AttributionTracey Saxby, Integration and Application Network (ian.umces.edu/media-library)