To understand how clouds get their shape, it helps to understand the basics of how they form. When air rises and cools, the ...

A cumulonimbus cloud over eastern Georgia photographed on August 9th, 2024. Marshall Shepherd. Even on quiet nights out for dinner with my wife, weather geekdom can find its way to the surface.

Cumulonimbus clouds are heavy and dense; they tend to build dramatically upward and are often harbingers of thunderstorms, hail, or tornadoes. Stratus clouds appear as a thin gray layer in the sky.

Cumulonimbus: Thunderstorm clouds are heavy and dense in the form of a mountain or tower (can produce tornadoes or hail). The upper portion is usually smooth, fibrous, or striated and nearly ...

Cumulonimbus clouds Towering, dense clouds with a flat, anvil-shaped top. Develops from cumulus clouds and can reach great heights, often associated with thunderstorms.

While most clouds don’t even reach 2,000 meters (6,500 feet), cumulonimbus clouds climb up to 20,000 meters (60,000 feet) to create a huge anvil shape. The cumulonimbus cloud towers over all others.