Thunderstorm & Anvil Clouds Over the Grand Canyon

Thunderstorms are beginning to form over the western edge of the Grand Canyon National Park above the First Nations Hualapai Tribal Reservationp>

I lensed this image of the early stages of their formation late in the afternoon on a warm spring day. Open the image up full screen to get the full effect of the image. Nature is awesome!!

These are cumulonimbus incus clouds (Incus is Latin for "anvil") also known as anvil clouds. When a cumulonimbus towers up and reaches a level of stratospheric stability it will form a characteristic flat, anvil-top shape.

They get their anvil shape from the fact that the rising air in thunderstorms expands and spreads out as the air bumps up against the bottom of the stratosphere. They can spread up to "hundreds of miles downwind from the thunderstorm itself," according to the National Weather Service.

Lightning can strike from anvil clouds, even far away from a thunderstorm. Lightning described as striking "from out of the blue" is usually from an anvil cloud that has drifted from a thunderstorm.

In the immediate foreground in this image the alpenglow colored sunrays are illuminating the rough and rugged rock formations of the Ute Mountains.

Long dark shadows are playing across the Mojave Desert floor and shading the Hualapai Mountains in the distance.

This image is from my ongoing project in which I am trying to raise awareness of the 47% of the USA and 90% of Canada that remain unpopulated wilderness.

Where Eagles Fly - The American Wilderness Expedition is my personal mission to introduce people to these amazing locations that surround us.

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