Over the western edge of the Grand Canyon National Park above the First Nations Hualapai Tribal Reservation a line of thunderstorms are beginning to form. I lensed this image of the early stages of their formation late in the afternoon on a warm spring day.
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 is from "Where Eagles Fly - The American Wilderness Expedition" my personal project of exploration in the North American Wilderness.
I'm on a mission to raise awareness of our Iconic Natural Heritage Treasures of North America.
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Yehaw!